


doing just fine

by and08



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Drinking Games, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2020-10-04 09:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20468594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/and08/pseuds/and08
Summary: Kim Wooseok changes the game. Cho Seungyoun needs a shot. Sundays are about to get a whole lot scarier.it's the frat au no one asked for





	1. Chapter 1

It all starts when Cho Seungyoun is dozing off during his comparative literature lecture. His eyes keep threatening to close despite the efforts of the venti iced americano with one pump classic two pumps toffee nut his lips have been attached to since the start of class. It’s the Monday after bids have gone out and he seriously regrets agreeing to go shot for shot with his pledge class at the afterparty. The copious Snapchat stories depicting him giving a lap dance to Sunho and Yohan simultaneously is scientific proof that you should never mix darks with lights. Or Yohan and Sunho. 

His head is about to hit the desk when his Macbook screen lights up from an email saying he’s officially been accepted as one of Lambda Phi Epsilon’s draft picks for the annual ASU beer pong tournament. 

He knows he’s one of the picks, having been singled out along with Hangyul and Yohan as Delta Chapter’s primary prospects for the competition. He skims the eerily formal e-vite before spotting a single message attached to the end of the email thread: start practicing chocho ^^

He scoffs. It’s only three words and a sad analog emoticon but he knows  _ exactly _ who it is, can practically imagine the little shit planning the message out. 

He quickly types out a response but his laptop pings before he can hit send: we know you’ll need it :) 

_ Oh.  _ It’s fucking on.

::

See, it goes like this. Cho Seungyoun is in a fraternity that sits on the Asian Student Union with the rest of the Asian interest orgs on campus. He’s Lambda Vice President and ASU rep this year which is a lot of work but he’s busting his ass to prove he can succeed Sungjoo next year. His throat has become immune to New Amsterdam and all other forms of cheap vodka which is a modern miracle considering the fact he used to gag at the sight of jungle juice. And even though he spent the summer in Hong Kong at a competitive internship under IBM, he still found time to attend and get absolutely smashed at three separate music festivals. 

Tl;dr: Cho Seungyoun has reached the peak of American undergraduate life. 

Except for the one tiny little (miniscule really, practically microscopic) thorn in his side named Kim Wooseok. 

Wooseok’s the president of Pi Delta Psi, which Seungyoun _ could _ categorize as Lambda’s rival frat but that would imply that the two entities are comparable (they’re not). And like Seungyoun, he’s an international student, pushed by parents with more money than they know what to do with to attend a prestigious university in the States. He’s good at sports and studying (he’s hot on the heels of Kim Minkyu for the highest GPA in the ASU and the shining star of PDPsi’s intramural team). And, to Seungyoun’s dismay, he’s got the prettiest face on campus, at least the little section of the population that the ASU lords over anyway. 

All these things considered, Wooseok should have been a Lambda, a brother of the oldest and most prestigious Asian American frat at their university. And Wooseok and Seungyoun should have been best friends. 

But they’re not. 

And that’s just fine with Seungyoun. 

Or at least that’s what he likes to tell himself. 

::

[9:08 am] [attachment] 

[9:10 am]  _ cho seungyoun  _

[9:11 am]  _ u realize u n wooseok <replied all> to this  _

[9:12 am]  _ so everyone in ASU can see u flirting in their inboxes _

[9:12 am]  ** _WHAT_ **

[9:13 am]  ** _HSHDHFUCK_ **

[9:13 am]  ** _HYUNG FIX THIS_ **

[9:14 am]  ** _U CAN FIX IT RIGHT?? USE UR COMPUTER SCIENCE JAVA PYTHON MAGIC_ **

[9:15 am]  _ why does that sound like a dildo name  _

[9:15 am]  _ java python magic _

[9:16 am] _ u think they sell that on adam n eve  _

[9:17 am]  ** _PARK SUNHO_ **

[9:18 am] _ ur such a drama queen  _

[9:18 am]  _ everyone knows ur into him ;( just admit it _

[9:19 am]  _ ur too far up each other’s asses to make eye contact with anyone else _

[9:20 am]  _ anyway back to java python magic _

[9:22 am]  _ ur a business major correct _

[9:23 am]  ** _I AM NOT INTO KIM WOOSEOK_ **

[9:23 am]  ** _STOP WITH THESE LIES_ **

[9:23 am]  _ maybe we can have yohan do some prototyping, he was on the robotics team b4 he got cool  _

[9:27 am]  ** _FORGET ABOUT THE DILDO_ **

[9:27 am]  ** _THINK ABT THIS SITUATIONAL DILDO UP MY ASS RN_ **

[9:29 am]  _ u realize how gay that is right  _

[9: 29 am]  _ and don’t pretend like ur not interested in my dildo _

[9:31 am]  _ u spent the summer at an unpaid internship _

[9:32 am]  _ ur ass NEEDS this dildo _

[9:32 am] _ o wait ur lowkey a chaebol i forgot  _

[9:40 am]  ** _oh my god im getting HAZED in the syands gc_ **

[9:40 am]  ** _why r they attacking me, wooseok is in this group chat too wtf discrimination_ **

[9:41 am]  ** _im getting visions of hell week _ **

[9:42 am]  ** _i aint a chaebol u fuck we just live comfortably_ **

[9:42 am] _ this is not worse than knuckle pushups at 3am u good raven baxter _

[9:43 am]  _ ok tell that to ur gucci slides _

[9:44 am]  ** _THEYRE GIVENCHY AND WE BOUGHT MATCHING ONES ??? _ **

[9:46 am] **_fuckkk jimin just sent me a video of the ksa freshman reps laughing at our emails _**

[9:47 am]  _ u know, u have a concerningly selective memory regarding our pledge period  _

[9:50 am] ** _ know whats concerning!!!!_ **

[9:51 am]  _ how quickly eunsang edited roman holiday over this email thread?  _ [attachment]

[9:52 am] **_actually i was gonna say how much i started liking the new twice cb the more i started listening!!!! _**

[9:53 am]  ** _jihyos facial expressions are top notch!!! queen of kpop!!! _ **

[9:53 am]  _ ur sarcasm has improved u fake once  _

[9:53 am]  _ i can hear u screaming thru my phone jesus _

[9:54 am]  _ quit it before i force u to come to twiceland w me _

[9:56 am]  ** _wait is that the school reddit?_ **

[9:57 am]  ** _eunsang’s in mec lecture rn right_ **

[9:59 am]  ** _room N-3450? it says so in the lambda drive_ **

[9:59 am] ** _ lambda drive is never wrong _ **

[10:00 am]  _ its the second week of classes n ur already abusing vp status hm ok _

[10:05 am] _ ur not going to jump him during lecture right _

[10:09 am] _ seungyoun _

[10:15 am]  _ welp gtg start a prayer circle for eunsang _

:: 

Seungyoun is  _ great _ .

And the ASU meeting at the end of the week that absolutely cannot be rescheduled, do you even have a conscience Cho just fucking man up and deal with it is  _ even better _ . With Wooseok and Seungyoun being forced to sit next to one another, as the representatives of the only two frats on the board, the ASU doesn’t even have to look any further for sources of drama today. They’re only halfway through the room booking and they haven’t even been able to agree on the type of napkins they’re going to buy for meet and greet. Mostly because Wooseok insists on taking the opposite stance every time Seungyoun voices his opinion and he cuts him off whenever he can. He finds himself internally praying for strength every time he sees Wooseok open his mouth out of the corner of his eye. 

“I think the graphic is fine, Kim. It’s the involvement fair anyway so whatever fliers we distribute just have to include this month’s event schedule,” Seungyoun says. A debate has arisen over what the editing team has presented for ASU’s first casual on-campus event. Seungyoun says his bit while typing out vicious commentary about Wooseok’s outfit choice to Yohan over Messenger. Seriously, who the fuck wears berets in the 21st century?

“It’s the first impression, Cho,” Wooseok is smiling but his tone is hard, “We have to stand out from the other student organizations. We can do better than this Microsoft Paint looking shit. They had the whole summer to improve.” 

“If you consider the fact that most of these fliers end up crumpled up on the quad, maybe you’d be able to see my point,” Seungyoun mumbles, eyes still trained on his laptop screen. 

“Well, if  _ you _ could consider the fact that the union’s image is at stake, maybe you’d have the decency to make actual eye contact with the rest of us,” Wooseok seethes beside him. 

That’s  _ fucking it _ .

Seungyoun pushes his laptop away and brings his face so close to Wooseok that the boy audibly gasps, “Is this good enough?” 

He hears the KSA girls titter from the other end of the table and he realizes what it must look like to the others. Wooseok opens his mouth to say something but he quickly closes it and turns away. 

Grumbling, he goes back to messaging Yohan, only this time he hits his keyboard buttons more aggressively. And even though the cute blue silicone keyboard cover Sihoon gifted him for his birthday is softening his angry symphony into less than satisfying meeting-appropriate background noise, he does it anyway. He and Wooseok don’t say another word and in the end, the union decides to reconfigure the flier graphics. 

Being labeled as the desperate one has been a humbling experience, thank you very much, he’s practically  _ transcended _ into a different plane of being with the level of self awareness he’s achieved. 

Wooseok probably wishes he could be him. Because since their Email Thread That Launched a Thousand Memes (Mostly at the Expense of Seungyoun) Wooseok has reached verifiable campus heartthrob status. And all that attention must be messing with the kid’s head. Seungyoun is sorry for him, really. He knows he got the better end of the deal.

Ok. 

FINE. 

It sucks. 

It’s at the level that Sungjoo made an elaborate drinking game out of it, allotting types of alcohol for certain turns of phrase, references to pop culture, and the occasional running pattern (for example, a shot of Captain Morgan every time Wooseok refers to Seungyoun as chocho and Seungyoun’s next message starts with “Fuck off Kim”). Everyone has to drink when a suggestive emoji pops up. And it seems as if every emoji they sent to one another can be argued for suggestiveness. 

The game becomes so popular on the night of its debut that it’s even accredited it as a brotherhood event. And see, this kind of stuff could be considered as normal frat behavior, if Sungjoo wasn’t Seungyoun’s fucking big and therefore obligated to be supportive in this extremely trying time. 

Eunsang has so many soju bombs, he reverts into Girl Group Cover Eunsang which is quite possibly the scariest personality out of the odd 137 he has. Sunho and Yohan attempt to build the Java Python Magic dildo with the assorted fruit basket Dong Wook had gotten them for an emergency room free rush week (their first since freshman year). Hangyul drunk dials his little brother Dohyon and explains the situation in detail which is pretty tame if you overlook the fact that Dohyon’s first reaction is to send Seungyoun a congrats on coming out text. The confetti that erupts all over Seungyoun’s phone screen finally does him in and he asks Sungjoo to explain the rules to him. He gets blissfully drunk off a mixture of Patron and self pity and subsequently misses his digital currencies lecture the next morning.

It takes a week and a half of pulling down his baseball hat brim to avoid eye contact for the hype around the homoerotic subtext of their emails to die down. The ASU is quick to find new targets, as always. 

So, everything is going to be fine.

Until he gets an email confirming his spot as the Lambda representative for the tournament. 

And a message that’s denoted as a Reply to You: finally got a handle on this email thing. see u at kickoff chocho <3

He’s about to  _ fucking lose his mind _ .

::

[11:34 pm]  ** _why is kim wooseok in my class_ **

[11:35 pm]  ** _he’s biomed why is he in an intro level business class_ **

[11:37 pm]  _ u didn’t hear _

[11:40 pm]  _ mf switched majors _

[11:42 pm]  _ genius move _

[11:43 pm]  _ why am i still compsci can u lmk _

[11:44 pm] _ i should’ve just switched to acting like i said i would that one time u got me drunk on gas station wine  _

[11:44 pm]  ** _do u think u look that self-assured n unaware of the current state of the job market_ **

[11:45 pm] ** _ it’s bc ur addicted to emotional trauma_ **

[11:46 pm]  ** _n u wouldn’t be able to justify ur red bull addiction otherwise_ **

[11:48 pm]  ** _wait i LOVE THIS FOR WOOSEOK_ **

[11:52 pm] ** _ he looks so lost it’s so cute_ **

[11:52 pm]  ** _in like a totally platonic mortal enemy type of way_ **

[11:54 pm]  ** _suddenly feeling blessed that i got this class to TA instead of my first pick_ **

[11:53 pm]  ** _did he think switching to into THIS business school would be easy??? HAHA FAT CHANCE SLIM BOI_ **

[11:55 pm] _ slim boi _

[11:56 pm]  _ that’s it that’s the best you’ve got _ ** **

[11:57 pm]  _ don’t even get me started on the gay panic thing you’ve got going on _

[11:58 pm]  ** _this is a three hour lecture cut me some slack_ **

[12:07 pm] ** _ n about the gas station wine_ **

[12:08 pm]  ** _for old times sake :P u tryna get lit w me on a weeknight?_ **

[12:09 pm]  _ are u insane we just came off of TWO WEEKS of babysitting drunk freshmen _

[12:10 pm]  _ take a BREAK _

[12:11 pm]  ** _come on it’ll be fun we can drunk dial all ur ex girlfriends _ **

[12:12 pm]  _ or i could live to see another day??  _

[12:13 pm]  ** _sungjoo has left over tequila rose that he’s hiding from me_ **

[12:14 pm]  _ fuck tequila rose tastes like strawberry milk _

[12:15 pm]  ** _I KNOW it’s so weird _ **

[12:16 pm]  _ … ig i’ll come _

[12:18 pm]  ** _you won’t regret it hyung :’)_ **

[12:19 pm] _ oh i will _

[12:21 pm] _ i know i will _

[12:22 pm]  ** _ugh drinking tequila rose w my bae tn <3_ **

[12:23 pm]  _ you’ve been single for too long _

::

Class is about to end when Professor Conklin asks the TAs to come up to the front and introduce themselves. Conklin isn’t a hardass by any means and this is probably the last time he’ll expect them to be in lecture so Seungyoun ushers the other TAs out of the back row and tells them to quit complaining. He has places to be after class and Sungjoo will quite literally beat his ass if he’s late to another Top 4 meeting. 

“Hi,” Seungyoun greets the class, “I’m Cho Seungyoun, one of the undergraduate teaching assistants for this section. I’m in a frat on campus, Lambda Phi Epsilon. Due to my class schedule, I’m unable to hold regular office hours so I’ll be holding weekly study sessions instead.” It’s short, simple. Bland enough that people won’t be lining up to come to his study sessions and Conklin looks satisfied enough when he finishes. 

The lecture hall is pretty big but it's easy to spot Wooseok in the third row, what with the beige beret he’s got on and his wide eyed stare that seems to freeze in place once he recognizes Seungyoun. He quickly passes off the mic to the girl next to him, a Finance major he’s shared classes with since freshman year, and rocks on the heels of his Converse as he looks everywhere but the third row. 

Conklin dismisses the class with a reminder to buy the textbook in time for their next meeting and he asks the TAs to stay back to go over expectations again. Seungyoun hurries to the back row once they’re finished, Sungjoo’s already blowing up his phone and he doesn’t want to be shamed in their group chat. 

Seungyoun is diligently weaving through the waves of panicked students trying to get to their next class when something — someone grabs him arm. 

“A junior TAing an intro class? I thought you were smarter than this, Cho.” 

“Shit, Kim. Could you be less of a dick next time you sneak up on me?” Seungyoun wrestles his hand out from Wooseok’s grip and starts walking double time down the hall, “At least I’m not actually  _ enrolled _ in it.” 

“I reassessed my priorities over the summer,” Wooseok calls after him, trying to catch up with his pace.

“Reassess this,” Seungyoun stops him in his tracks, pushing his pointer finger into Wooseok’s chest, “I’m going to beat you at tournament and I’m going to take that trophy. Just wait.” 

“Cocky piece of shit,” Wooseok mutters. 

“Attention whore,” Seungyoun bites back.

“Speak for yourself,” Wooseok rolls his eyes, “You’ve had a problem with me ever since I turned down the Lambda bid. Acting like it’s been my fault this whole time. You shouldn’t have fucking left me at the house — ”

“You told me to leave!” 

“ — told me you were passed out in a goddamn bathroom. Who gives a flying fuck about the little freshman asking for his friend — ”

“Literally everyone on this campus?”

“ — always been trying to one up me. You never gave up on hating each other and here was I thinking that it would blow over after a couple of weeks. Imagine it taking up the majority of my freaking undergraduate experience — ” 

“Why?” Seungyoun interjects, taking a deep breath before continuing, “Why the fuck are you bringing this up now?” 

“ — has been ignoring the other since ...” Wooseok trails off. 

Seungyoun raises his eyebrows in question. 

“I reassessed a lot of things over the summer.” He has the decency to look sheepish, “Shit- uh, well stuff kind of went down at home.” 

Silence. Wooseok seems like he’s waiting for Seungyoun to say something but nothing transpires for five or so minutes. He moves to turn away. 

“Pretty shit apology,” Seungyoun drawls, eliciting a look of shock from Wooseok but he quickly recovers. His stare looks a little different now, removed. Rehearsed. 

“I’m a pretty shit person,” he counters, “You've said so yourself.”  Silence again and a sudden smile, “I’ll be MCing at kickoff. KSA’s hosting this year. You probably already knew that. You pay more attention during union meetings anyway. Let’s play a game together.” 

He can’t help the little laugh that escapes him as Wooseok hurries away. He stops, catches himself, remembers  _ who he is _ , remembers  _ who Wooseok is _ . 

And wonders what the fuck just happened.

::

[5:32 pm] ** _ r u going to kickoff _ **

[5:33 pm]  _ is that even a question _

[5:34 pm]  _ its free bingsoo AND free alc _

[5:35 pm]  _ i mean free bingsoo made by college students in dorm kitchens n alc that we’re paying for through dues  _

[5:35 pm]  _ but still gotta respect the hustle _

[5:36 pm]  ** _u right_ **

[5:36 pm]  ** _lets go together :) i’ll pick u up :)_ **

[5:36 pm]  _ is this perhaps,, _

[5:37 pm]  _ bc wooseok is MCing _

[5:39 pm]  ** _uh no why would u think that_ **

[5:41 pm]  ** _im just trying to support ASU_ **

[5:42 pm]  ** _solidarity!_ **

[5:43 pm]  ** _ksas donating the ride fees to a nursing home in korea_ **

[5:44 pm]  ** _think about the cute grandmas_ **

[5:46 pm] ** _ thats who we do this for_ **

[5:46 pm]  _ the cute grandmas are why we’re binge drinking on a sunday night??  _

[5:47 pm] and  _ didnt u say ur grandmother has had a stick up her ass for like all of eternity  _

[5:48 pm]  ** _ok but she lives in a 15th floor walkup in gangnam surrounded by seoul’s entire cat population not a nursing home_ **

[5:49 pm] _ mhm ok _

[5:51 pm]  ** _no but_ **

[5:53 pm]  ** _its super important u know _ **

[5:54 pm] **_support the older people of generation_**

[5:55 pm]  ** _lets get filial_ **

[5:56 pm] _ is it weird that desperations kind of a good look on you _

[5:57 pm] _ like it suits u in a way?  _

[6:01 pm]  ** _ok but the grandmas bro_ **

[6:01 pm]  ** _ur killing my vibe here can u just roll w my concept rn _ **

[6:02 pm]  _ this has been going on too long for it to be a concept  _

[6:02 pm]  ** _ur a fucking sadist n i hate u forever_ **

[6:03 pm]  _ u know u love me xoxo park sunho _

[6:07 pm]  _ we still out to kickoff tho right _

[6:10 pm]  _ kim sohyes gonna be there im dressing up _

[6:14 pm]  _ should i wear khakis _

[6:15 pm]  _ im wearing that shirt u got me for my birthday w khakis _

[6:15 pm]  ** _no wear the medium wash straight leg levis_ **

[6:16 pm]  _ i knew that would get u to respond _

[6:17 pm]  _ side note _

[6:17 pm]  _ totally unrelated btw _

[6:17 pm]  _ u think i have time to go back n change _

[6:18 pm]  ** _is this just a twisted way to ask me to drive u back to the house_ **

[6:19 pm]  _ im in the physics building see u in 10 _

[6:20 pm]  ** _i don’t remember signing up to be ur personal uber_ **

[6:22 pm]  ** _venmo me for gas n ill bite _ **

[6:23 pm]  _ hell nah ur lexus takes p3 _

[6:24 pm]  ** _expect my venmo request∼_ **

[6:25 pm]  _ expect it to be rejected∼ _

::

“Hey.” 

There’s a lot of people in the backyard, waiting for friends to be dropped off or like Seungyoun, are trying to consume as much fresh air as possible in preparation for the night they’re about to spend in a cramped townhouse basement. It’s loud and he’s already had a beer or two but he’d know that voice anywhere. Which is why he counts three seconds under his breath to steel himself before coming face to face with  _ him _ . 

Seungyoun fights the urge to wolf whistle. 

Wooseok usually shows up to meetings wearing sweatpants and letters which does very little to dampen the very real glow-from-within thing he’s got going on. But he balls out on these ASU events, especially the ones KSA hosts. He’s wearing an oversized dress shirt over his white shirt, one that looks a lot like it’s Seungyoun’s size rather than Wooseok’s which makes it  _ so  _ much worse. Seungyoun recognizes the Balenciaga sneakers he’s wearing as the ones he himself has sitting in his ssense shopping cart since they were released, paired with too-tight-to-be-considered-decent dark wash jeans. 

“Kim,” Seungyoun says evenly, making sure to look him right in the eye. In contrast, Wooseok decides to sweep his gaze over Seungyoun’s body and he almost reflexively covers himself with his hands because that stare leans more towards “fuck  _ you _ ” rather than “ _ fuck  _ you”. Once Wooseok finishes his one night only tour of Seungyoun’s figure and meets his eyes again, his entire body is screaming at him to run back inside the KSA house and away from Kim Wooseok.

“You look good today.” 

“Well you — ” Seungyoun’s brain short circuits, “I look — Sorry, I look  _ what _ today?” 

“Fishing for compliments? You’re getting cuter by the second.” Wooseok’s eyes fucking  _ twinkle _ as he nudges Seungyoun playfully. Seungyoun’s mind is still stuck on the fact that a line jacket with jeans could be considered a good outfit. There’s a beat of silence, something Seungyoun figured would be a benchmark for all following conversations henceforth. “Oh come on. Nothing for me? I’m all dressed up to MC too.” Seungyoun notices the shine of gloss as he pouts his lips. 

“Look, I know we had that weird heart to heart thing outside Conklin’s class but this is kinda weird.”

“Just want to make conversation between friends,” Wooseok sniffs, “Is that so wrong?”

“We’re not friends though? Maybe soft enemies? Or like hard acquaintances?” 

“Aren’t we?” Wooseok smiles before pressing his lips to Seungyoun’s cheek and running off to the house.

::

[10:31 pm]  _ dude where tf are u  _

[10:35 pm]  _ also u were right about the levis _

[10:36 pm] _ eunsang says sohye was checking me out _

[10:37 pm]  _ and hes good at noticing that shit  _

[10:40 pm]  _ he also said something about how my moon and rising are in conflict rn _

[10:42 pm]  _ is this why he asked for everyone’s time of birth at chapter?  _

[10:50 pm] _ answer my texts u douche _

[10:51 pm]  _ ugh ur probably off being ditzy n distracted somewhere _

[10:51 pm]  _ eunsang says it’s because ur a leo and i shouldn’t blame u so i forgive u  _

[10:51 pm]  _ to be clear i’m forgiving u for being a leo, not for ditching me _

[10:52 pm]  _ ur lucky this is an ASU event and nothing starts on time _

[10:53 pm]  _ o wait i see u  _

[10:54 pm]  _ are you with wooseok???  _

[10:55 pm]  _ i didnt know u were this tall, ur standing so mf straight _

[10:56 pm]  _ wow dude seriously ur posture is impeccable u should stop slouching _

[10:58 pm]  _ WAIT  _

[11:00 pm]  _ WAIT HSDKKSJ DID KIM WOOSEOK JUST KISS UR CHEEK  _

[11:01 pm]  _ IM DEAD IM DYING SEUNGYOUN U WHORE _

[11:01 pm]  _ pls tell me this means slutyoun is making a comeback this sem PLEASE  _

[11:02 pm] _ ok get ur ass over here whore we have rivals to intimidate _

::

He understands that the whole underground beer pong tournament thing is just a fixed excuse to drink every week but he’s been attending since his freshman year so it’s kind of nice to be competing this time around. He had gotten an auxiliary invite as a Lambda pledge his freshman year and was mostly assigned to lookout and cleanup during the odd four weeks it stretched over. That year, a girl from TSA defended the title after winning the previous year. His sophomore year, a senior named Miguel from Liga Filipina had won the final against Wenhan from CASU. 

Seungyoun himself has never really been that good at drinking. But he’s got a handle on games and strategy. And while Seungyoun is still baffled that the committee chose him out of the draft picks Lambda executive board had sent in, he doesn’t doubt that he could easily win against some of the other players. Beer pong was a mandatory skill for both frats. And Pis and Lambdas would make it to semi-finals, like they had every year since the tournament started.

Kickoff was a messy but time-honored way to start and hosting privilege cycled through the ASU organizations annually. KSA didn’t have to assign MCs to keep the night going but it was a breath of fresh air from the awkward affair at the JSO house the past year. The Lambdas already claimed their territory, huddling around the painted table they had been asked to bring in the night before. 

“That’s like the fifth time Kim Wooseok has looked over here,” Yohan says, a puzzled look on his otherwise handsome face. 

“ _ Fuck  _ Kim Wooseok, your hyung is about to score the most gorgeous shot against your precious president,” Seungyoun scrunches his nose as he lines it up. They’re right near the speakers which are blaring some mutation of a Future song and the bass is thrumming in Seungyoun’s ears. Just a little to the left and — he hears the telltale slosh of the ping pong ball in the cup and the Lambdas start cheering.

Eunsang claps him on the back as Sungjoo makes a show out of chugging the remaining liquor in the cup. The boys start a Lambda chant which quickly catches the attention of everyone in the basement, to the point that Wooseok stops bantering with Jimin to try and see what the commotion is about. 

Wooseok’s eyes meet his and he thinks  _ what the hell _ and winks at him. A blush rises up to Wooseok’s cheeks and Seungyoun smirks. If Wooseok wanted to change the rules of engagement, Seungyoun could definitely comply. In fact, he would  _ more than _ comply. 

Two can play at this game. And sure, one of them (read: Seungyoun) can’t play nearly as well as the other (read: Wooseok). But the players of the game can definitely be extended to two.

Wooseok starts wrapping up his MC bit and looks as if he’s making excuses to his partner. Jimin shoots Seungyoun The Look and he knows he’ll have to answer to her come Monday morning. Hangyul and Sihoon are herding him over to the coolers to pick up some celebratory drinks until Wooseok cuts them off as they’re about to pass through a group of Kappas trying to take lineage pictures. 

“Seungyoun, I mean Cho—” 

“Wooseokshi,” Sihoon drawls in broken Konglish, “We have to get our hyungnim drunk! Can you please MOVE SIR!” 

“I’m just going to borrow him for one second— just one second ok? Then you can have all the soju you want. Won’t that be fun?” Of course Wooseok was good at taking care of drunk people. At this point, Seungyoun would not expect anything less. 

“You down for a game then?” Seungyoun forces out and thanks god that he hears it come out nonchalant and cool. Even though his hands are shaking harder than the defective Nutribullet Hangyul insisted on buying for the Lambda house. 

“No,” Wooseok says shortly, eyes shining, “I want a challenge.”

“DRINKS FIRST!” Sihoon suddenly revives from the vegetative state Wooseok had put him in and his expression is so innocent and bright that they can’t help from laughing. 

“Did someone say drinks?” Sungjoo comes up behind Hangyul, his hands full of several bottles of soju. 

“That’s my big!” Seungyoun exclaims in delight. Sungjoo’s prepping for graduate school and hasn’t been out drinking since rush week. Seungyoun didn’t realize how much he missed his presence at these parties until now. 

“Hyung,” Hangyul reaches out to hold him by the waist, “Marry me.” 

“Drink first-” Sungjoo pushes the bottles into their hands, “No not you, Sihoon. Hangyul, take him to drink some water after this. Jesus fuck. Why do we keep forgetting how much of a lightweight he is?” 

“Because it makes for good Snapchat stories?” Hangyul teases before training his phone camera at a dancing Sihoon. 

Seungyoun is about to twist his own open before Wooseok leans towards him and clinks— _ legitimately fucking clinks _ —has own bottle against his. The shorter boy smiles brightly before bringing it to his lips and finishing the entire thing off in less than ten seconds. 

Seungyoun’s dick twitches.

“You ready?” Wooseok wipes his mouth, or is he just being a little bastard and calling attention to his swollen lips? And shit, is it actually working? 

“For?”

“For me to wipe the floor with you at the Pi table.”

“In your fucking dreams, Kim.” 

::

[12:46 am]  _ bro _

[12:47 am]  _ i owe u one _

[12:49 am]  _ i think sohye just asked me out?  _

[12:52 am]  _ ok in hindsight it could also be her needing a ride home, i think nayoung dipped _

[12:52 am]  ** _ARE U DOUBTING UR MALE PROWESS BRO_ **

[12:52 am]  ** _IN FRONT OF MY MF SALAD_ **

[12:53 am]  _ ur tipsy already?? but ur right this is a win for all of us really  _

[12:54 am]  _ ok yea she’s holding my hand i def owe u one _

[12:55 am]  ** _consensual hand holding??_ **

[12:56 am] ** _ u kinky bastard_ **

[12:56 am]  _ i’m making ur protein shake tomorrow  _

[12:57 am]  _ it’ll be ready right when u get back from the gym _

[12:58 am] _ i’ll steal kookheon’s special protein powder for it _

[12:59 am]  _ the good shit, the one he buys from gnc  _

[1:02 am]  _ which is so kookheon like just fucking buy it from amazon like the rest of us _

[1:03 am]  ** _lmao gotta love kookheon_ **

[1:03 am]  ** _nah bro dwai thats all u_ **

[1:03 am]  ** _i peep u working those glutes in the gym_ **

[1:04 am]  ** _squat form on point _ **

[1:05 am]  ** _textbook shit_ **

[1:06 am]  _ still! gotta pay back the karma _

[1:07 am]  _ eunsang says itll be good for me  _

[1:07 am]  ** _damn ur rlly riding eunsangs wave rn_ **

[1:08 am] **_lets make it a gym date_**

[1:09 am] **_u me protein powder eternal brotherhood _**

[1:10 am]  _ u deadass just touched my heart bro _

::

Seungyoun’s killing it. 

He doesn’t know what’s come over him but he’s beating Wooseok so bad, it feels like he’s committing a crime. You can still make out the formation his cups has started off with since Wooseok has only managed to sink two while Wooseok’s side of the table looks sad, with only four cups still standing. A crowd has formed around the table they’re playing at and it’s getting hotter by the second. Wooseok is down to his sweat soaked white t-shirt and Seungyoun keeps debating whether or not to strip off his own tank top. 

“Watch and learn, Kim,” Seungyoun smirks before backing up from the table, effectively decreasing his chances of making it, but he’s received scrolls in the double digits and there’s a little voice in the back of his head saying fuck it. 

He listens. 

And the ball he tosses circles around the rim of one of Wooseok’s cups before falling in. The Pis huddled around Wooseok’s side of the table groan as their frat brother downs another cup of vodka. 

“You’re a fucking monster,” Eunsang says in shock as he passes Seungyoun a shot of Jagermeister to which he shakes his head vehemently. “Don’t bitch out now,” Eunsang singsongs. He’s been winning but the Lambdas keep feeding him shots regardless. He overheard Hangyul and Yohan plotting a repeat of the bid night party striptease and Eunsang is definitely in on it. Fuck it. He takes the cup and savors the warmth that spreads through his body. 

“THAT’S MY FUCKING PLEDGE DAD!” Sihoon screams and Seungyoun fondly pats his cheek before passing him off to Sungjoo with orders to funnel as much water as physically possible down his throat. Sungjoo laughs and struggles with the younger boy before whispering something in Sihoon’s ear that seems to do the trick. He waves goodbye to the pair and takes a second to glance at Wooseok and notices how hard he’s clenching his jaw. 

“Fuck this,” Wooseok snaps, pulling at the bottom of his white shirt before taking it off, “My turn.” There’s a couple of wolf whistles that erupt from the people around them when he balls up the shirt and even more cheers arise when he  _ throws it into the crowd _ . His upper body is defined, if a little on the skinny side. The sweat is evident as he leans over the table to line up his toss, droplets of it hitting the tabletop. As he strains his neck to get a better look, Seungyoun has got to admit, Wooseok is  _ fucking hot _ . Another set of cheers. His eyes finally focus on the scene around him, having been too busy appreciating Wooseok’s figure to notice that a ping pong ball has landed in one of his cups. Lucky bastard. 

“Took you long enough,” Seungyoun pays it forward and tosses his tank top to the side. Wooseok’s jaw drops. He’s pretty sure he hears one of the Pis wonder aloud how much he benches. Eunsang, Hangyul, and Yohan almost fall over each other as they excitedly fawn over his body. He plays along with the boys and flexes, calling attention to his brand new gun tattoo. 

“Hyungnim! You had all of this—under this?” Hangyul holds up his dark tank top in the air. 

“Are these real?” Eunsang exclaims as he runs his hand over Seungyoun’s abdomen. Seungyoun fights the urge to giggle when Yohan clambers over, his hands held up to his face to mimic the look of glasses. 

“Why, Eunsangshi!” Yohan yells, “Would you expect any less from our Vice President?” 

“Ok- Eunsang let go, oh my—let go!” Seungyoun can’t stop himself from laughing, “Seriously, let me just take my turn. Yes, ok. Ok. Come on boys, do you want hyung to lose? Hm?” They finally let go of him, disappointed looks on their faces. Seungyoun reaches over to ruffle Eunsang’s hair and he brightens. The neos were so cute when they were just this side of tipsy. 

“Gonna keep me waiting, Cho?”

“Aw, Kim. Let the neos have a bit of fun. Here,” Seungyoun throws his ball haphazardly, knowing it won’t land in any of the cups, “A freebie. Just for you.” 

“Stop showing off,” Wooseok snaps. Seungyoun smiles lazily in response. If he was being honest, he had missed this side of Wooseok. The more competitive, calculating, almost cold version that only came out to play when Seungyoun pressed certain buttons. Good to know he still remembered how. 

Wooseok fails to sink a cup during his turn and he sullenly looks at the remaining two cups on his side, one of them being the death cup. It’s filled to the brim with a deadly mix of whatever the hell was left in the Lambda cooler and Seungyoun cheerfully imagines Wooseok gulping it down. 

“Get ready to drink, Kim,” Seungyoun tunes out the jeers from the Pis and aims for the cup, relishing in his opponent’s dark expression when he realizes Seungyoun has won.

The boys cheer loudly and Hangyul somehow unearths raspberry Stoli from the depths of their stash, pushing it towards Seungyoun who gladly kneels so they can pour it into his mouth. The Pis quickly disperse and Wooseok is left to savor the taste of the death cup. 

“Is it good, Kim? We mixed it just for you!” Yohan calls out. Wooseok’s face is scrunched up and he looks like he got waitlisted out of the afternoon section of a class and has to take the 8am instead but he manages a response. 

“It’s perfect, Yohan. Tastes fucking fantastic.” Wooseok’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. He stalks over to Seungyoun, who’s still very occupied with the celebratory bottle of Stoli, and motions for him to stand up.

“Yes?” Seungyoun stumbles as he stands and Wooseok steadies him. Hangyul and Yohan have fucked off to god knows where and it’s just the two of them. Their audience has dispersed and it’s clear that the prerogative for the rest of the night is dancing, as evidenced by the shift to sing along songs playing on the speakers. 

“Good game.” It occurs to Seungyoun that because of the amount of bodies around them, they’re almost chest to chest. And that they’re both breathing heavily. Cool. Super chill.

“For once, I’m actually inclined to agree with you.”

“Next time, I’ll beat you even worse than that.”

“Oh yeah? Don’t tell me you were sandbagging Kim-” Seungyoun’s voice catches when Wooseok suddenly wraps his hand around his neck and his lips press up against his ear. Seungyoun’s body goes stiff. Another kiss?

“Upstairs. Second room to the right. In 10 minutes,” Wooseok’s tone is smooth, even though their proximity makes it clear that he’s shaking as he says this. 

Seungyoun gulps as he watches Wooseok walk towards the stairs leading up to the first floor. He sits silently on the edge of the Pi beer pong table for a couple minutes, not sure what to make of the situation. He reaches for the Stoli and uncaps it. Maybe the vodka will calm him down. 

Songs keep playing and switching as Seungyoun is drinking which means that there’s a good chance ten minutes has already passed. Steadying himself, Seungyoun slowly stands and makes headway towards the stairwell. Every step he takes is heavy and requires way more focus than he’d like. As soon as he reaches them, he leans against the banister, chest heaving and vision blurry.

“Easy there, Cho,” someone who looks a lot like Lee Jinhyuk grabs his arm. Is it Lee Jinhyuk? Shit. Was Stoli ever this strong? “You trying to go upstairs? Come on, let’s go together. I’ll get your big ok?” 

“No! Don’t you dare tell Sungjoo what I’m doing right now,” Seungyoun’s eyes widen in alarm and he misses a step, causing both of them to lose balance. 

“Jesus, ok,” possibly-Lee Jinhyuk says, “Let’s sit down for a little bit.” They’re already upstairs when Seungyoun’s eyes focus and he finds himself being led to one of the couches in the living room.

“Yeah, let’s-” Seungyoun trails off, trying to fight the sudden fatigue that comes over him once he’s sat down. He feels a comforting pat on his head before his vision goes black.

::

[2:57 pm]  ** _question_ ** _ _

[2:57 pm]  _ answer _

[2:57 pm]  ** _i just woke up in kim wooseoks room_ **

[2:58 pm]  _ WELCOME BACK SLUTYOUN ITS BEEN SO LONG _

[2:58 pm]  ** _no idt we did anything_ **

[2:59 pm]  _ ;)))) okok i see  _

[3:00 pm]  ** _no like he’s sleeping on the floor n i’m on the bed_ **

[3:01 pm]  _ o y’all got kinky with it then?  _

[3:02 pm]  ** _park sunho _ **

[3:03 pm]  ** _send an uber, my service is so shit rn_ **

[3:04 pm]  _ thats what u get for switching to tmobile  _

[3:06 pm]  _ jimin wants to know if u can move her laundry into the drier _

[3:07 pm]  ** _fuck did u tell her i was at the house_ **

[3:08 pm]  _ no she just somehow expects u to do her laundry remotely?? ofc i did _

[3:10 pm]  _ she says hands off for the rest of her eboard  _

[3:11 pm}  _ she saw u with jinhyuk last night? n she says u have to choose _

[3:12 pm]  ** _o shit so that WAS jinhyuk_ **

[3:13 pm]  _ see thats not helping ur case _

[3:14 pm]  _ the uber is gonna take a while, but its a gray Mazda _

[3:15 pm]  ** _does jimin actually want me to move her laundry?_ **

[3:21 pm]  ** _fuck it i moved it_ **

[3:22 pm]  ** _damn the ksa house uses downy unstoppables?? _ **

[3:23 pm]  ** _mb thats why wooseok always smells so good_ **

[3:25 pm]  ** _why dont we use downy unstoppables_ **

[3:30 pm]  ** _should we buy for the house?_ **

[3:32 pm]  _ are u still drunk  _

[3:33 pm]  ** _FAT maybe _ **

::

Seungyoun is sifting through the mass of shoes in the entryway for his shoes. Another text from Sunho confirms the Uber is arriving in five minutes. Perfect. Maybe if he inundates his head with dry shampoo, he can catch his next lecture. He finally spots the pair by the coat rack and reaches for them, only for them to be snatched up by another set of hands. 

“Leaving so soon?” 

“Kim!” Seungyoun squeaks, “Uh- hi.” 

“You were pretty gone last night, Cho. You sure you’re good?” Wooseok looks genuinely concerned, “Here, let me help you.” He kneels down to push Seungyoun’s feet into the high tops. 

“You  _ really  _ don’t have to do that,” Seungyoun blushes, “And my PB got me an uber. Should be here anytime soon.” 

“Ah,” Wooseok nods. 

“Nothing happened right?” 

“Nope.” 

Wooseok says something else after, but it’s so soft that Seungyoun can only catch a couple words. Wish or maybe kiss? Did? Or was it bid? 

“Pardon?” 

“Nothing!” Wooseok quickly says, “I didn’t say anything.” Seungyoun hums his assent. He wonders why he would go so far as to lie. 

“Ok. Well, I think my ride’s here. See you in class tomorrow?” 

“Huh? Oh. Yeah, of course.”

He all but sprints to the SUV that’s stopped at the curb outside. Seungyoun opens the door and gets in before even confirming that its the Uber Sunho had called. The driver looks a little scandalized at the likes of him jumping into the passenger’s seat. He’s a little insulted until he catches a glimpse of his reflection in the rearview mirror. Shit. It was that kind of night. 

“Seungyoun? For Park Sunho?” the driver says slowly. 

“Yeah, sorry. Just got a little carried away. Had to get out of there, you know,” he responds sheepishly. 

“Don’t worry about it. You’re not my first ride of shame today,” he chuckles, “You might be my latest though. 3pm? Must have been quite the night.” 

“God, tell me about it. Russian vodka does crazy things to your mind.” 

The Uber driver laughs and they quickly fall into easy conversation. Seungyoun recounts the night in as much detail he can and the man reacts entertainingly, adding funny little comments here and there. He finds out that he’s a graduate student at the university, trying to make some extra cash on the side during his free time. He’s not an ASU alum though, having preferred to study and spend most of his time alone when he was an undergraduate. Seungyoun solemnly tells him he made the right decision and they both burst into laughter once more. They’re discussing the pros and cons of Seungyoun’s situation when the car stops and he realizes they’ve arrived at the Lambda house. 

“Thanks for the ride- uh what was your name again?” Seungyoun asks as he gets out of the passenger’s seat. 

“Han Seungwoo, nice to meet you.” Seungyoun readily shakes his outstretched hand and smiles.

“It was nice meeting you too. See you around, yeah?” 

“Nah, get your life together so we won’t meet like this again,” Seungwoo says sternly, but there’s a teasing lilt to his voice. 

“Yes! No more rides of shame.” 

“I’ll remember that!” Seungwoo yells out of his car window. Seungyoun laughs as he waves goodbye. 

::

[7:43 pm]  ** _u ever have a cathartic uber ride_ **

[7:46 pm]  _ uh no? _

[7:47 pm]  _ i had to look up what cathartic meant _

[8:00 pm]  ** _well i think i just had an uber cathartic ride_ **

[8:01 pm]  ** _do u see what i did there_ **

[8:03 pm]  _ yes seungyoun very clever _

[8:04 pm]  ** _wheres eunsang he would appreciate this_ **

[8:04 pm] _ i think the neos went out to get poke _

[8:05 pm]  ** _without me??? fucking wack_ **

[8:06 pm]  ** _well i cant imagine theyre having any fun _ **

[8:06 pm]  _ lets get our own dindin in retaliation _

[8:10 pm] _ yohan n i are walking back from calc _

[8:11 pm]  ** _don’t call it dindin and i just might pick u up ;)_ **

  
[8:12 pm]  _ wah cho seungyoun ur kinda cool today _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi :) i made a new ao3 account just for seungseok bc I luv them
> 
> also this fanfic isn't over, I just haven't used ao3 in so long that idk how to edit the chapter amount. I'm planning on posting two more chapter and a short epilogue so look forward to that!
> 
> I'm including the 2002 line in this bc I feel weird making up OCs, so I figured why not age them up for the sake of fanfic 
> 
> also heres a teeny disclaimer: the frats mentioned here are real and I do have friends in both of them and I'm trying rlly hard not to stick to the stereotypes they carry at my school, both greek orgs r great n I luv them n the bros r chill
> 
> additionally this organizational system is very similar to the one I have at my own university so that's what it's modeled against


	2. Chapter 2

He’s not avoiding Wooseok. He’s not. He’s just been very occupied with updating the playlists on his unusually popular Spotify account and convincing Hangyul to try cooking something other than barely seasoned grilled chicken and making sure the pledges are running on something other than Red Bull and Sungjoo’s offhand compliments. Seungyoun is very busy. So busy, that nobody can really blame him for forgoing any social interactions outside the frat house.

Seungyoun is more than happy to stay in with the boys during all of his free time. As much as living in a frat house can be sometimes unaccommodating and almost always disgusting, he’s grown to love and cherish the organized chaos they reside in. In fact, he’d hazard that he’s spent more time in the Lambda house this week than he had during hell week last year. And it’s kind of been fun. 

He _ likes _ playing involved games of League with Sihoon and yelling orders to one another across the hall. He _ likes _ being made to sit in on Sunho’s tarot reading that Eunsang does through a highly rated, extremely well-reviewed smartphone app. He even likes joining on Hangyul and Yunseong’s random play dance nights for the new pledge class, even though he can barely breathe afterwards. The only pledge who keeps up with them is one code-named Crybaby, he vaguely remembers that his real name is Hyeongjun and Seungyoun gives him a rare nod of recognition that he knows they never get from the older brothers. The kid bursts into tears. Which gives Seungyoun flashbacks to his intense nights of sobbing during his pledging and he immediately schedules an Anime and Cry session with the boys for later. 

All of that aside, the past week is proof that you don’t have to face any of your problems head on if you don’t want to. 

And Seungyoun _ really doesn’t want to _. 

So of course, Sunday hits him like a motherfucking freight train.

::

[11:03 pm] ** _isnt it weird that we’ve been here since it started n wooseok still hasnt shown_ **

[11:04 pm] ** _all of the pi bros are here but their_ **

[11:05 pm] ** _literal fucking pong rep has been MIA ??_ **

[11:06 pm] ** _n why does no one care????_ **

[11:07 pm] ** _its almost his freaking turn_ **

[11:10 pm] _ if ur gonna whine about kim wooseok _

[11:10 pm]_ can u be a bit more competitive about it _

[11:11 pm]_ im trying to get into a hypeman headspace _

[11:12 pm] _ and this whole concerned boyfriend thing is not it _

[11:13 pm] ** _uh_ **

[11:14 pm] ** _can kim wooseok get his ass here so i can beat it _ **

[11:14 pm] ** _???_ **

[11:16 pm] _ i said COMPETITIVE _

[11:20 pm]** _ no kinkshaming allowed >.<_ **

[11:21 pm] _ wait yohan just said that wooseoks playing his round already _

[11:29 pm]_ youn? _

[11:35 pm] _ tone down ur lovesick staring everyone can see u _

::

The basement is less crowded this time around and the music has gotten better. Seungyoun still has to raise his voice to be understood by anyone he’s talking to but it’s definitely an improvement. Instead of tables arranged like sardines, there’s only ten or so out on the floor with ample space to walk between them. It makes it easier to watch different games at once. Seungyoun played his round already, beating out the Kappa Phi Lambda representative in about ten or so minutes. He’d been wandering the floor with Hangyul, listening in to conversations the Pis were having, trying to figure out what Wooseok was up to. 

Wooseok plays a good game. He has to give him that. And he looks pretty like this, with his hair brushing into his eyes and the little wrinkle of concentration on his brow. He didn’t bother dressing up tonight, which Seungyoun finds oddly charming despite the fact that he himself probably went overboard with getting ready. He even unearthed some hair gel from his closet and pushed his hair back. Wooseok deftly tosses one of his ping pong balls into his opponent’s cup and Seungyoun lets out a cheer, forgetting himself.

“Hey Cho,” Lee Jinhyuk comes to stand on his right side. He nods at the Solo cup in Seungyoun’s hand, “Hope you’re not trying to die tonight. Wouldn’t want Wooseok to throw a fit again.” 

“Don’t worry, it’s just water- again?” he pauses, “What do you mean again?” 

“Last week! You don’t remember?” he shakes his head, “I took you up to my room after you knocked so you could rest for a while and Wooseok came by to say hello. Went practically ballistic and used that scary voice, you know the scary voice,” Seungyoun nods, he knows exactly what Jinhyuk is talking about, “Peeled you off my futon and marched off to his room with you on his back. Kinda funny. You had to see it. He’s so small compared to you but he kept giving me looks on his way down the hall, gave me the feeling he didn’t want help.” 

“Jinhyuk.. Are you drunk?” 

“A little bit, yeah,” he nods, “I’m rambling aren’t I?”

“Yeah.” 

“Perfect, I’m gonna go see if any of my pledges will notice,” Jinhyuk’s face is a little too gleeful for Seungyoun to think that he’s not about to scare the Pi pledges within an inch of their lives, “YO MINHEE GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”. He figures the older boy has no sense of basic decency right now because Seungyoun’s ears are ringing. 

The Greek orgs agreed to start handing out invites to their pledges, specifically the ones who haven’t fucked up too hard during the process. Crybaby is here and he looks like he’s been on the verge of tears for the past hour. Nothing new there. The kid’s kind of growing on him though, he might even pick him up.

“This fucker is mad fucking cocky,” Jinhyuk swings his arm over the pledge’s shoulder, “Probably cockier than you during your pledging.”

“I was not—” Jinhyuk fixes him with a look, “Ok I was, a little.” 

“Why am I here?” the pledge—Minhee—rolls his eyes. He’s tall with wide shoulders and dyed blonde hair. He’s on the cute side but his build makes up for it and with the muscle tee and destroyed jean ensemble he’s got on, he checks all the boxes for textbook Asian frat boy. Minhee walks the line between the type of guy Lambdas like to pick up and the type Pis usually take in. Hell, Seungyoun might have rushed him if he ever came to any of the Lambda parties. 

“Hey! Watch it. You’re one of the only ones Wooseok gave an invite to and that’s because he has this inexplicable soft spot for your ass. God knows why, you can barely do 5 pushups in a row.” It’s obvious that the Pis are going a little easier on this class, given that Minhee didn’t even have to do an official greeting to Jinhyuk. Their last one had been pretty small, probably because they were pledged too hard, causing a lot of dropouts. Their numbers look stronger this year. They might even cross a class comparable to Lambda’s. 

“I got to 10 the other day!” 

“Bullshit.”

“Ok, 8.” 

“Try 6.”

Seungyoun figures the two will bicker into the next century so he slowly backs away. He says hi to a couple JSO girls, Jimin’s friends from KDPhi, and makes small talk about classes and the next mixer. He overhears Wooseok’s name being dropped in a conversation and remembers that he’s probably almost finished with his game. Maybe he’ll go and take a look. And then he’ll leave and maybe start his literature review for class that he still hasn’t fucking started. 

“You’re Seungyoun right?” He turns and finds himself face to face with a girl he vaguely remembers seeing at the Sigma probate last semester. 

“Uh, yeah,” he nods, “And you are?” Shit, that was rude. The girl laughs though. Thank god. 

“Kim Sihyeon. I crossed last semester.” She’s pretty and has this kind of soft and innocent look to her, which she obviously has tried to undercut with eye makeup and false lashes but it still manages to shine through, “We’re on the same business track. Global Affairs?” 

“Oh shit, are you taking Erster’s class this semester?” 

He’s making small talk again and he hates it. 

“Yeah, actually I was wondering-”

“Hey Cho.” 

“Oh,” Seungyoun takes a small step backwards, “Wooseok, hi.” Fuck, did he just call him by his first name? Fuck. 

“Sihyeon, I have to talk to Cho for a second,” He says this a matter-of-factly, like it’s socially acceptable to so forcefully insert yourself into a conversation. A confused look marrs her features but Wooseok raises his eyebrow and she nods her assent, walking over to a circle of girls who are egging each other on to finish a bottle of Grey Goose. 

“What the f-”

“She’s my hoobae, there’s like a weird sense of duty she feels for me. Don’t question it,” Wooseok explains her quick departure easily. Seungyoun is a little jaded until he realizes he’s talking about the mentorship program KSA has, which borrows heavily from the big/little system Greeks use but it uses Korean terms to try and mask the blatant plagiarism. Seungyoun understands. He’d do close to anything for Sungjoo. 

“Cool,” Seungyoun wants to slap his mouth as soon as he registers how fucking stupid he sounds. 

“So-” Wooseok starts. 

“So-” Seungyoun repeats slowly back at him. 

“You’ve been ignoring me,” Wooseok takes a step towards him. 

“What?” Another step. 

“Don’t lie,” One more. 

“I- I’ve been busy,” Seungyoun stutters, “With you know, stuff.” 

“Stuff,” he deadpans. 

“I’m teaching Hangyul about spices. And I bought some new skins on League. Also, it was palm reading night on Thursday. I have an alarmingly deep life line, do you wanna see?” They’re up against a wall now, a portion of the room that’s thankfully partially blocked from view because of the staircase. Wooseok’s hand placement on the wall is too reminiscent of the Korean dramas Seungyoun’s mom makes him sit through and he feels like their positions would be better off switched. 

“Palm readings,” Wooseok breathes, dumbstruck. He can feel the weight of Wooseok’s body against his and there’s heat pooling in his stomach. And the fact that Wooseok’s button down is very unbuttoned and his upper body is very exposed is not doing him any favors.

“Yeah,” Seungyoun nods, “D-do you want one? Eunsang has a whole folder-”

“I think my life line is good thanks,” Wooseok brings his face even closer to Seungyoun’s, “Are you drunk?” 

“No.”

“You know where my room is. Don’t get lost this time.” 

::

[12:07 am] _ sohye and i are dipping _

[12:08 am]_ to go watch that new documentary on hbogo _

[12:09 am]_ ;) _

[12:10 am] ** _oh same _ **

[12:11 am] _ TF??? _

[12:12 am] ** _i play hbogo documentaries when i hook up w people too_ **

[12:14 am] **_wait_** **_bro i literally taught u that move_**

[12:15 am] ** _bc of ocean’s 11 remember_ **

[12:18 am] _ OH SHIT I FORGOT _

[12:19 am]_ rip ocean’s 11 _

[12:21 am] _ WHO TF PUTS ON A MOVIE THAT SLAPS THAT HARD DURING A DICK APPT _

[12:23 am] ** _im telling u it was torture_ **

[12:25 am] ** _trying to make moves_ **

[12:30 am] ** _and i just wanted to see George Clooney ROB BITCHES_ **

[12:31 am] _ yo lowkey George Clooney is on my list _

[12:31 am] _ like guy crush wise, Clooney is up there _

[12:31 am] ** _no cap i would fuck the hell out of george clooney_ **

** ** [12:32 am] _ theres no way clooney is a bottom dont even front _

[12:33 am]** _ how do you know that_ **

[12:33 am] ** _have u ever had a sexual encounter with george clooney before _ **

[12:34 am]_ uh no? _

[12:35 am] ** _well i have _ **

[12:36 am] _ yeah bro? _

[12:37 am] **_yeah the whole ocean’s trilogy is a sexual encounter with george clooney_**

[12:38 am]_ i had a good ass amal joke i was about to follow that up with but f in the chat bc u one upped it n now the joke is dead _

[12:39 am] ** _ffffffff_ **

[12:40 am]** _ yo im lowkey down to watch oceans 11 tomorrow u down_ **

[12:40 am] _ u know i am _

[12:41 am]** _ ok ok stop texting me n go have fun boo ;))_ **

[12:42 am] _ i’ll send u good vibes _

[12:42 am] ** _thanks i’ll need it_ **

[12:43 am] _ ???? _

::

The first thing he notices is the cottony scent that the room seems to be saturated in. It’s characteristic of the room’s owner and Seungyoun can’t help the upturn of his mouth when it registers that this is exactly what he would expect Kim Wooseok’s room to look like. Not that he thinks about that. He doesn’t have a lot hanging on the walls, besides a couple of lights and a fraternity flag, and his bedsheets are plain. It’s cute, in a utilitarian kind of way. 

There’s something a little off about it though. He wonders if it’s because of the familiar lineup of blank wooden paddles against the wardrobe, waiting to be painted by neos. Or the bulk pack of black garbage bags taking up space in the corner.

Or maybe its because Wooseok isn’t in the fucking room at all. 

Shit. This is an elaborate prank. Seungyoun’s life is officially a movie about coming of age and he’s the token Asian boy who’s coming to grips with his sexuality. And Wooseok is his hot and mysterious co-star with a posse of heteronormative guys with too much time on their hands. It’s going to come out on Netflix in October and everyone is going to love it and Seungyoun is going to need a lot of therapy but also make a lot of money off of some niche brand deals. 

Ok. Ok. Breathe. Maybe Wooseok had to go take care of someone. Or he had to move his car. But what if he’s downstairs doing shots with Jinhyuk and that pledge? And Wooseok is telling them how he got a dumb fucking Lambda bro to think he was interested in him and that’s he’s in his room right now, come on let’s go laugh at him? Fuck. FUCK. He’s on the brink of a breakdown when the door unceremoniously pushes into his back, causing him to stumble further into the room.

“Shit—” 

“Hi—”

Wooseok surveys the scene before him and giggles, actually fucking giggles, before asking, “What are we doing?” 

“You’re the one who invited me to your room,” Seungyoun huffs. Well, at least Wooseok’s here. That’s one crisis averted. 

“Let’s sit on the bed,” Wooseok’s voice has a giddy tone to it, which reminds him that he just came off of a pong game and he’s definitely taken at least a couple shots. He sits next to him anyway and basks in the reality of the situation. 

Wooseok suddenly stands and manages to walk a somewhat straight line to his desk, where he spends an odd ten minutes connecting to a speaker. Seungyoun doesn’t dare say a word, instead busying himself by counting the amount of textbooks Wooseok has lined up on his bookshelf. Some familiar R&B finally starts playing and Wooseok nods at no one in particular before going to turn off the overhead lights, leaving the string lights to illuminate the room. 

“Is this going to be another heart to heart? Because I’m sober as fuck right now and I’m going to need at least a shot to start talking about my feelings,” Seungyoun continues. Wooseok is back on the bed, humming the song softy, “Seriously. You got anything?”

“Just listen to the music,” Wooseok breathes, resting his head against Seungyoun’s shoulder, “It’s good, isn’t it?”

Seungyoun is frozen in place and he doesn’t want to move. He doesn’t know if it’s because he likes the feeling of having Wooseok this close to him. Or if it’s because he doesn’t want to disturb whatever dream he’s having right now. 

“Yeah, it’s good.”

“I should hope so,” he hums, “It’s your playlist.”

“Huh?” 

“Your Spotify. I follow it. Your playlists are good,” Wooseok smiles up at him and his eyes are shining, it seems like he’s extremely proud that Seungyoun has managed a minuscule amount of fame through a streaming service. Is he? Why would he be?

“Thanks.”

“Can I kiss you?” Wooseok whispers.

His heart stops.

He nods.

“Ok. Ok,” Wooseok arches up, “I’m going to kiss you now.” 

The first thing he notices is how _ fucking soft _ Wooseok’s lips are. The kiss is quick, chaste. As Wooseok pulls away, shifting in his spot nervously, Seungyoun notices how flushed his cheeks are, how his pupils are blown wide, hiding the soft brown of Wooseok’s eyes. And he can’t stop himself from grabbing him and tracing his tongue across the boy’s lips.

Wooseok doesn’t do anything for a split second, as if late to realize what’s going on. But his hands easily circle around Seungyoun’s waist, pulling him closer. He sucks on Seungyoun’s bottom lip, tugging it with his teeth before slipping his tongue into his mouth. Seungyoun responds by pressing his lips harder into the kiss, his hand coming up to tug lightly on Wooseok’s hair. Wooseok lets out a soft noise, something that’s not quite a sigh, but not quite a moan either. He moves away from Seungyoun, his face red.

“It’s ok,” Seungyoun slowly guides Wooseok so he’s lying on the bed, “I like it.” He smiles and begins to kiss up Wooseok’s neck, skimming his mouth along the edge of his jaw. His hands trace up Wooseok’s thighs, squeezing slightly. He doesn’t know where all this confidence came from but he’s praying that it doesn’t subside anytime soon. 

“This-” Wooseok’s breath hitches as Seungyoun bites into the side of his neck, “This, too. I like this too.” 

Seungyoun pulls away to laugh lightly, “Are you sure I can keep going?” 

“Well, I didn’t tell you to stop,” Wooseok says indignantly. Seungyoun just shakes his head, a smirk playing on his lips before he resumes sucking at the spot behind Wooseok’s ear, relishing in the moans that leave Wooseok’s mouth.. 

“What—” Seungyoun murmurs against his skin, “—are we?” 

“What do you want us to be?” Wooseok manages before gasping as Seungyoun pulls him onto his lap. 

“I asked first,” Seungyoun licks at the mark he’s made, satisfied with how quickly it’s darkening. 

“What did you say before? Soft friends?” Wooseok presses his mouth against Seungyoun’s cheek, “And the other thing— what was the other thing?” 

“Hard acquaintances.” 

They both look down. 

“Definitely hard acquaintances,” Wooseok says breathlessly. 

“Definitely.”

::

[11:32 am] _ hm someone walked into breakfast late today _

[11:34 am] ** _do u have a death wish_ **

[11:37 am] _ hm r turtlenecks suddenly in style or r u trying to hide the hickey on ur neck _

[11:40 am]** _ i burned myself with my straightener ;P_ **

[11:41 am] ** _also turtlenecks are always in_ **

[11:42 am] _ not in this weather they arent _

[11:45 am] ** _shut up n eat ur sausages_ **

[11:46 am]_ no thanks im suddenly reminded that somebody else was eating sausages last night _

[11:47 am] ** _CHILL _ **

[11:49 am] _ so was wooseok worth it _

[11:52 am] ** _STFU IT WASNT WOOSEOK_ **

[11:54 am]_ i have brain cells _

[11:56 am] ** _DONT TELL ANYONE_ **

[11:58 am] ** _NOT EVEN UR MOM_ **

[12:01 pm] _ wtf dude _

[12:02 pm] _ U KNOW I TELL MY MOM EVERYTHING _

[12:04 pm]** _ YA N ITS WEIRD_ **

[12:06 pm]** _ N SHES GONNA KAKAO TALK MY MOM_ **

[12:07 pm] ** _AND THEN IM GONNA TELL MY MOM UR TRYING TO GET W KIM SOHYE_ **

[12:08 pm] ** _AND WERE GOING TO HAVE THE WORST PARENTS WEEKEND EVER_ **

[12:10 pm] _ STOP YELLING _

[12:11 pm] ** _OK_ **

::

They only ever hook up in the KSA house. Ok, it’s only been a couple days but that’s the trend so far. And they haven’t even done much. Besides kissing. And handjobs. Mostly because Seungyoun is too scared about the noise level. Wooseok is _ so loud _. Even when they’re just making out. So he’s been waiting for a night when there’ll be something to drown him out. He has a feeling that Wooseok is getting sick of just kissing. To be honest, he is too. But there’s something about the transition from archenemies to fuck buddies that’s really thrown him for a loop. 

Wooseok, despite being President, doesn’t live in the Pi house since he still holds the lease on KSA’s. He has a car anyway and his e-board is chill with it. There aren’t really any rules they’ve set so far. And the arrangement is kind of weird, since Seungyoun avoids Wooseok like the plague on campus. 

No rules, that is, besides the ones Seungyoun has set for himself. Number one, he can sleep in the room with Wooseok, he might even cuddle afterward, but under no circumstances does he_ sleep over _. Sleeping over constitutes a whole other set of experiences, like waking up next to each other and fumbling for each other’s articles of clothing and a load of other shit he doesn’t want to deal with. Number two, dirty talk is hot but there’s not going to be any soft dirty talk. You know, no “You’re the best I’ve ever had”, no “I love the way you…”, and definitely no “I missed you…”/”I missed your … in my …”/and any other variations that use the word “miss”. Because they can’t miss each other. Because they’re not like that. Number three, nobody can know. Self-explanatory. But extremely essential.

Wooseok silently agrees to these rules. Or he puts up with them. Seungyoun can’t really know for sure. He just knows that its Tuesday and he’s spent the majority of the past two nights in not-his-bed. Having to wake up to drive back in the early morning has been a bitch and his chair in the Business Learning Center is so much more comfortable than he remembers it being. He just might fall asleep now. So yeah, it’s been a good week. A great week. It’s even better because the ASU has given the semi-finalists a two week break to allow for an invite-only wild card round and homecoming weekend. Which means Seungyoun’s liver is going to get the break it so desperately needs. 

“Hi!” 

It’s a cheery Kim Wooseok with two bubble teas, one of which looks a lot like Seungyoun’s regular order. And he blinks twice to make sure it isn’t some sort of mirage. But it is. And he’s walking towards Seungyoun’s cubicle. 

“Uh- um hi? Why are you here?” Seungyoun frantically cleans up the papers he had spread out on the desk to make it look like he was prepping for a study session but really he’s been looking forward to playing Minecraft during this block. Nobody ever shows up for his study sessions anyway. 

“Isn’t this your study session?” Wooseok sits down, pushing one of the bubble teas toward Seungyoun. 

“How do you know my bubble tea order?” 

“Lambda instagram takeovers during rush week. You took your kids out to Gong Cha, didn’t you?” 

“See, except I know for a fact that you don’t follow our instagram. Stalker.” Seungyoun tentatively takes a sip, “Shit, you know the sugar level too. The fuck.”

“So,” Wooseok starts, patting Seungyoun’s thigh to signal him to come closer, “Can you explain to me the thing Conklin mentioned about financial assets?” 

“Oh!” It’s office hours. Wooseok is here for extra help, not for Seungyoun, “Right. Uh- remind me what chapter of the textbook that was?” Seungyoun starts flipping through the index of his copy to try and find page numbers, his mind way more focused on the fact that Wooseok’s hand has not left its place. 

“Eight,” Wooseok smiles, letting his hand trail up Seungyoun’s thigh. 

“Right,” Seungyoun gulps, “What- what did you need help with specifically?” 

“All of it,” he turns Seungyoun’s seat and kneels in between his legs, “You can start by reading the chapter. Slowly.” Seungyoun’s eyes widen as Wooseok settles himself underneath the desk. He feels him unzipping his jeans, “Seungyounah.”

“Yes?” 

“If you don’t start reading, I can’t start either.” 

“Ok, uh ok. Interest is effectively a rate on money. There are two types we will discuss in this chapter…” He can feel Wooseok mouthing at his bulge and he shivers, “Wooseok, please.” The heat of his lips leave Seungyoun and Wooseok looks up at him, lips in a pout. 

“I’m trying really hard to be sexy and coy here. Can you please cooperate?” Wooseok is leaning his head on Seungyoun’s knee and his face is so cute like this that Seungyoun can’t help but laugh. 

“Kim. You can’t suck me off in the Business Learning Center,” he says, pinching his right cheek. 

“Who says I can’t?” Wooseok says before taking Seungyoun’s thumb into his mouth and sucking softly.

Seungyoun’s brain lags for a little bit after Wooseok says these words. 

“Fuck.”

::

[4:00 pm] ** _blowjobs r chill right_ **

[4:03 pm] _ idk how u want me to answer here _

[4:04 pm] _ like im trying to think of the response that wont send u into a spiral _

[4:08 pm] _ but im having trouble coming up w it _

[4:10 pm] ** _what about blowjobs during ur office hours r those chill_ **

[4:11 pm] _ U KINKY FUCKERS _

[4:12 pm] ** _but we havent even had sex yet _ **

[4:14 pm] _ ok thats fine though?? _

[4:15 pm] _ the course of true love never did run smooth _

[4:16 pm] ** _is that shakespeare_ **

[4:17 pm] _ ya turns out there’s a humanities requirement for stem majors wtf _

[4:18 pm] ** _u right though like ive been driving back every morning, romeo didnt have to put up with this bs_ **

[4:19 pm] _ just sleep over _

[4:19 pm] _ also romeo straight up died bro _

[4:19 pm] ** _did u forget who u were talking to_ **

[4:20 pm] ** _or do i have to recount my romantic history _ **

[4:21 pm] ** _romeos romantic strategies would not survive in this political climate n u know that_ **

[4:22 pm] _ oh shit sorry cho “commitment issues” seungyoun _

[4:22 pm] _ romeo is SUCH a fuckboy _

[4:22 pm]_ romeo n mercutio would make tiktoks _

[4:24 pm] _ anyway u down to pick up the alc for homecoming _

[4:27 pm] _ the pledges were supposed to do it but a shit ton of them have that chem midterm _

[4:28 pm] _ so hangyul n yohan decided to be benevolent or whatever n cancel weekend duties _

[4:30 pm] ** _tf did i teach them nothing_ **

[4:31 pm] ** _also agreed, but mercutios tiktoks would be way better_ **

[4:31 pm] ** _also benevolent? this shakespeare class is doing numbers on ur vocab bro_ **

[4:32 pm] _ dw they still have regular duties n im pretty sure they had to stand at attention while sihoon does his skincare routine the past 2 nights _

[4:33 pm] ** _fuck w serum n everything_ **

[4:37 pm] _ he added a pack n eye masks too _

[4:39 pm] ** _shit thank god that aint us_ **

[4:40 pm] ** _also im going to pick up hyeongjun_ **

[4:41 pm] _ o shit the one that cries a lot? _

[4:43 pm] ** _ya_ **

[4:44 pm] _ what is it w u and twinks _

[4:45 pm] ** _SUNHO HSDHDJDJ_ **

[4:47 pm] ** _ITS NOT LIKE THAT_ **

::

Homecoming weekend creeps up on him quickly. And ASU has managed to get some pretty nice lot spaces next to the football stadium for the pregame. Which also means Seungyoun is doomed to keep stealing glances at the Pi Delta Psi x Kappa Phi Lambda tailgate across the lot. He himself is wearing the Jack Daniels themed long sleeve commissioned by the aKDPhis who have swarmed around Hangyul’s pick up truck. And yes, it’s a nice day and he loves shotgunning beers with the rest of his brothers but Wooseok keeps _ looking at him _ and he keeps looking at Wooseok and if this goes on, Seungyoun is going to have a mild to severe _ aneurysm _. 

After the events that transpired last Tuesday, Wooseok has had the gall to keep running into him on campus and engaging in conversation with him, inviting him to get food or hang out. So far, Seungyoun has been forced into two sit down lunches and a whole ass dinner at the Pi house. He’s met a shit ton of Wooseok’s frat brothers and many of them have stopped giving him the customary cold shoulder at school. This one neo named Junho even offers to split a Chegg account with him so they can get the homework answers for their stock market class that Seungyoun didn’t even know they shared. His venmo descriptions are always something along the lines of “Fighting Seungyoun hyung!” or “You can do it!”. Pi brothers call him _ hyung _ now. _ Fucking hyung _. 

To make matters worse, Wooseok keeps dropping off bubble tea with Seungyoun before his classes, and when it’s too early for anything to be open, he brings him a Thermos of some magical tea that cures hangovers in a pinch and that Seungyoun can only ever get when he’s over at Wooseok’s. He gets a good morning text at 8am and a good night text at midnight like clockwork. And Seungyoun keeps staying in Wooseok’s bed longer and longer, forgoing the early morning wakeups for mid-afternoon cuddles, to the point that Wooseok presents him with an Olaf toothbrush to use when he’s over. Because morning sex is sexy but morning breath is not.

He’s consulted with Sunho, Sungjoo, Jimin, hell he even LinkedIn stalked Han Seungwoo and asked him what the fuck Wooseok is up to. They’re just fucking. So why does Wooseok insist on acting like they’re friends? 

They aren’t, by the way. 

Seungyoun doesn’t have time for that. He’s already behind in his history of wealth and inequality lecture and recently forgot to hand in their last reading assignment. He had to beg some TA to let him hand it in for partial credit in the middle of the academic mall, he’s pretty sure a handful of people on a campus tour laughed at him for it. And Lambda board is way more work than he remembers it being and he only has one position this year, compared to the four he held down his neo semester. He doesn’t have time for a situationship. Not this semester. Him and Wooseok have an understanding and that’s more than enough. 

There’s going to be an afterparty at the house once Sungjoo decides that Bud Lights aren’t cutting it anymore. Some of the other Lambda chapters are driving to campus to party which should be fun. The pledges are invited to this one, they’ll have to wear masks and mostly help get drunk people in Ubers, but it’s an invite nonetheless. It’s the only party anyone in the ASU is holding this weekend, which means everybody is going to show up and more than a few people are going to try and hook up in Seungyoun’s room. Which reminds him that he needs to bolt lock that shit before they start rides. 

He asked Sunho earlier to invite Jinhyuk to the Facebook event page, which is kind of a casual go ahead that lets the Pis know they’re welcome to come to the party. Pis and Lambdas aren’t on bad terms, at least not on their campus anyway. He can’t say the same for other chapters. But still, coming to a frat party when you’re technically part of a frat yourself is a weird vibe. Wooseok mentioned that it had something to do with their pledges the other night, when they were lying on his bed and Wooseok had his head buried in Seungyoun’s shoulder and they were both shirtless and all was well in the world. 

Fuck. 

Seungyoun looks down and sees that he’s sporting a partial. He curses himself for choosing to wear the black Armanis today. They hugged his legs a little too tight for his liking but Kookheon fucked up the laundry. Again. You’d think a biochemistry major would understand the merit of separating out bright red boxers from everything else. Maybe they set expectations a little too high when they assigned him to laundry duty after the bleach disaster that left half the chapter looking like members of a post apocalyptic boyband. The jeans that he especially bought to wear today, the ones that would definitely make Wooseok salivate if he walked past the PDPsi tent, are now irrecoverable and streaked with pink. 

But all of that aside, Wooseok is giving him a look again and he decides to hold the gaze for a little longer than necessary. Shit. Something tells him that there _ are _going to be people hooking up in his room tonight. 

Ok.

He’s still going to bolt lock the door. 

Only, from the inside this time. 

::

[9:12 pm] ** _don’t go into my room tonight_ **

[9:14 pm] ** _like at all_ **

[9:17 pm] ** _even if u need to use my adventure time one hitter_ **

[9:18 pm] ** _just dont bro_ **

[9:20 pm] _ hbogo? _

[9:21 pm] ** _its escalated to natgeo_ **

[9:22 pm] _ oh fuck its that kinda night _

[9:24 pm] _ so ur not going to be smoking w us :/ _

[9:25 pm] ** _sorry bro im going full romeo tn_ **

[9:27 pm] _ but that new KBS recruit is bringing the weed _

[9:28 pm] ** _dongpyo? the tiny freshman ??? _ **

[9:28 pm] _uh_… _ yes? _

[9:29 pm] ** _like ??? the one who knew the gee choreo by heart? THAT dongpyo?_ **

[9:31 pm] _ yo dont hate hes a middle man, his roommates the dealer _

[9:33 pm] _but the _ _ shits called white rhino or something? _

[9:45 pm] ** _who tf is naming these strains_ **

[9:47 pm] ** _and why are we buying drugs from a first year??_ **

[9:52 pm] _ i think they just use random word generator n call it a day _

[9:53 pm] _ yohan wants to rush him next spring!!! n technically !!! its not HIS weed _

[9:54 pm] ** _he’s a FRESHMAN! UR ACQUIRING FRESHMAN WEED_ **

[9:55 pm] ** _rides start in 5_ **

[10:00 pm] _ gotchu _

[10:01 pm] _ super unfair that ur excused from rides btw _

[10:02 pm] _ yohan says that mariah shouldnt be subjected to this torture _

[10:02 pm] ** _my cars the newest_ **

[10:05 pm] ** _sihoon almost puked in it last open_ **

[10:06 pm] ** _show some respect_ **

[10:07 pm]** _ n who tf is mariah_ **

[10:08 pm] _ its what he calls his camry ?? kinda weird _

[10:10 pm] ** _lmfaooo thats genius_ **

[10:11 pm] _ huh?? _

[10:20 pm] _ oh SHIT _

[10:21 pm] _ MARIAH CAMRY _

[10:22 pm] _ THATS FUCKING HILARIOUS _

::

In hindsight, he should not have gone into this night with any expectations. 

Like now that he thinks about it, he should have looked at this situation as a whole. Because as a member of the esteemed brotherhood of Lambda Phi Epsilon, he’s assigned to _ a task _tonight. A totally inane, torturous task that means having to check on the only bathroom open to partygoers every thirty minutes. Which means he can barely launch a seduction of Kim Wooseok without being called to unclog something or refill toilet paper or very rarely, to cut a particularly heavy makeout session short. 

He’s spotted Wooseok twice tonight. Once, at the beer pong table playing against a Lambda from Gamma chapter and the other time he was dancing with some of the Pi bros to an Illenium song Seungyoun remembers hearing live at Moonrise. 

But the most important thing, the thing that is driving Seungyoun absolutely insane, besides being stuck on Bathroom Watch, is that Wooseok looks _ fucking ethereal _ tonight.

He’s wearing a floaty strip of white cloth that could be referred to as a tank top with some matching shorts. And somebody, some absolute god among men, has stuck little gems at the corner of his eyes. He looks like a literal fucking fairy, all he’s missing are a set of wings. Which can easily be acquired at this party, since its themed angels and devils. Seungyoun himself is wearing a headband with tiny red devil horns, the same Armani jeans that threaten to cut off his blood flow if he does anything but stand stick straight, and some very BDSM-y leather contraption that Sunho unearthed from the depths of the Lambda attic across his bare chest. 

Yeah, he knows he looks hot. 

No, he doesn’t know why he isn’t spread out on a bed right now, with one Kim Wooseok on top of him. 

He surveys the dance floor and nods at Yohan, who’s DJ tonight, which means a shit ton of throwbacks coupled with songs people can throw their back out dancing to. A Jeremih song is playing which means the frequency at which Seungyoun has to check the bathroom for people hooking up has increased exponentially. There’s a small crowd forming around the chair they keep in the corner for well, sitting, but also, perhaps more importantly, for lap dances. It’s a little early in the night to be bringing out the chair but if people are down, Seungyoun guesses he’s down too. 

He cranes his head to see who’s on the chair and laughs when he sees Jinhyuk shaking his head as someone wraps a white strip of cloth around his eyes. 

He stops laughing when he sees that that person is Kim Wooseok. 

::

[9:01 am] _ ok remember that one time you showed up at the mother’s day cookout trashed bc your first fwb broke it off _

[9:02 am] _ and i saved your ass by getting our moms drunk on boxed wine _

[9:02 am] _ or like bagged ? wine ig whatever the fuck Franzia is _

[9:03 am] _ and single-handedly freed us from the pain of our mothers showing up to every fucking frat event _

[9:04 am] _ do u remember that _

[9:05 am] ** _what the hell did u do _ **

[9:06 am] _ srsly tho, it was like the semester u swore off sex but still fucked every weekend _

[9:06 am] _ u became a living keg stand _

[9:07 am] _ like PEAK slutyoun _

[9:07 am] ** _YOU TOLD A KSA GIRL ABOUT ME AND WOOSEOK_ **

[9:07 am] _ so like u owe me in a way _

[9:08 am] _ ok in my defense, we were bonding over concealing hickeys _

[9:10 am] ** _i’m burning your signed twice album_ **

[9:11 am] _ come on bro, i did u a solid there _

[9:12 am] ** _THAT WAS TWO YEARS AGO N MY MOM STILL GETS ALL QUIET WHENEVER I MENTION WHITE WINE_ **

[9:13 am] _ wtf there’s a line _

[9:14 am] _ CHO SEUNGYOUN _

[9:15 am] _ please i stg please oh my god NOT THE ALBUM _

[9:17 am] ** _ur paying for takeout tonight _ **

[9:18 am] ** _and ur taking my DD spot for the next open_ **

[9:19 am] ** _i want drunken noods from that fancy thai fusion place_ **

[9:20 am]_ aigo you’ve taken enough drunken nudes _

[9:21 am] ** _I WILL LIGHT A FIRE UNDER TZUYU_ **

[9:22 am] _ jesus fuck ok _

[9:23 am] ** _FUCK ME DUDE _ **

[9:24 am] ** _we had a whole ass TIFF last night_ **

[9:25 am]** _ AND NOW THIS_ **

[9:27 am] _ the fuck is a tiff _

[9:28 am]** _ not a whole fight but not just a disagreement _ **

[9:29 am] _ ah a petty quarrel _

[9:30 am] ** _yes exactly_ **

[9:31 am] _ so whats the plan _

[9:32 am] ** _bold of you to assume ive gotten that far_ **

::

The news spreads like wildfire, even faster than when their emails got out. The ASU doesn’t disappoint when it comes to gossip and they eat Wooseok and Seungyoun up. 

Wooseok texts him. And when he doesn’t respond, he starts calling. He blocks his number. 

Seungyoun stops holding study sessions, skips ASU meetings, and considers bowing out of the pong tournament. He throws himself headfirst into his classes and holes himself up in his room. 

His frat brothers show varying levels of concern and care. Hangyul and Yohan start to give Seungyoun half of their HelloFresh orders instead of meal prepping them for the day after. Eunsang keeps up with the weekly horoscopes, only this time Seungyoun’s pretty sure he takes the time to edit out any negative premonitions from them. Sunho keeps showering him with takeout orders and does a full bow every time they pass each other in the house. The pledges are ordered to bake a cake for him. It’s a box mix they bought from Costco and the frosting is clearly Pillsbury brand so it’s not that good but he starts sobbing when they give it to him on Friday night. Hyeongjun tries really fucking hard to fight the tears but cries uncontrollably once they make eye contact. They hug a lot afterward. 

Seungyoun is doing just fine. 

He figures he can maintain this standard of living for a long ass time, or at least until winter break. His expectations are shattered during his seventh rewatch of Kimi No Nawa, when his Macbook pings. It’s an email notification. 

_ I think we need to talk. _

Seungyoun clicks out of Netflix and stares at the message. 

He starts to type out a response but stops, hesitates. He deletes it. 

He doesn’t send anything back.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!!! first of all, thank you so much for all the love you've given to this fic! I'm a university student, involved in almost as many things as Seungyoun is in this story, so I've been super busy with planning meetings and shoulder tapping seniors to prep for mixers :') I wanted to update ASAP since I thought the first two weeks of school would be chill (they weren't) but ended up following a vague every 5-6 day schedule. i think I'm going to try to finish this up in the next chapter (expect it in about the same amount of time) and I'll post an epilogue a little after. also, I'm going to respond to the comments on the last chapter! I keep forgetting to respond, sorry about that ;( 
> 
> i'm in the works of developing a longer fic for seungseok which I hope to have up later this month, if I don't drown in classwork and club duties. i revived my old high school twitter and wiped it to stay updated on X1 (lol) and to get more direct feedback on this fic and future ones, my handle is @fivecsy. LOL I have zero followers but it'll be a good way to update on how this fic is doing and maybe write some stuff you guys want to see! i'm also going to open a curiouscat soon! i'm also going to work on some definitions regarding Greek and a more detailed explanation on how the ASU works in this AU since I kind of just went with the flow last chapter. 
> 
> thank you all again ^^ xoxo and08


	3. Chapter 3

Seungyoun is given an ultimatum by the union: show up to Sunday’s round and be reinstated or skip and they’ll consider it as him officially pulling out of the tournament altogether. 

He stays in on Sunday. 

It makes much less of a ruckus than he expected and the Lambdas are very understanding. He knows that he should try and face his fears and maybe take advantage of the free therapy they offer at the Health Center, since he’s been blasting Talking To The Moon through his new Polk speaker system on an infinite loop. Because being sad also means indulging himself and using his mother’s black card with absolute abandon. But there’s a certain definitivity to his situation. Like he already knows all the possible courses of action he could take, he’s just putting off choosing one. 

He spends a lot of time thinking that weekend. He thinks about that one time he missed an applied maths final because of the wildest crossing mixer he has ever attended and the ensuing campaign to get his professor to let him retake a separate version. He thinks about the last time he got a ticket on the highway for driving 20 over the speed limit, trying to make it in time for initiation from an aKDPhi formal another state over. He thinks about the weekend where he and Sunho set out to try every bubble tea place in a 10 mile radius, which led to some serious bathroom disgrace after they ran out of Lactaid tablets.

Basically, Seungyoun has made a lot of mistakes in his life. 

And he’s not so sure that Wooseok is one of them. 

::

[9:01 am] _ eunsang downloaded the pattern on my phone _

[9:03 am] _ u know the one matt damon totally trash talked _

[9:04 am]_ n i need u to know how scared of this shit i am rn bro _

[9:05 am] _ like verifiably spooked _

[9:06 am]** _ do u think i should talk to wooseok_ **

[9:07 am]_ uh _

[9:08 am] _ hold up whats ur time of birth again _

[9:09 am]** _ what_ **

[9:10 am]_ its important _

[9:11 am] ** _eunsang give the phone to sunho_ **

[9:12 am] _ whats wooseoks time of birth _

[9:13 am] ** _EUNSANG_ **

[9:14 am] _ okok jesus _

[9:15 am] _ ngl u should figure out ur times of birth tho _

[9:16 am] _ life changing _

[9:20 am] ** _ig i can ask my mom?_ **

[9:23 am] _ dw eunsang already katalked her for u _

[9:23 am] **_pls stop ik u guys have a group chat w my mother_**

[9:24 am] **_ive seen it on her phone_**

[9:25 am] _ ok and _

[9:30 am]_ was it ever a secret _

[9:34 am] _ i think u should talk to wooseok tho _

[9:35 am]_ even if u dont know his time of birth _

[9:37 am] ** _rlly _ **

[9:39 am] _ ya _

[9:40 am] _ man is probably sad af rn _

[9:42 am] _ like kookheon when there arent any free racks at the gym to squat at sad _

[9:45 am]** _ free weights exist_ **

[9:46 am]_ ok stop deflecting!!! _

[9:48 am] ** _stop giving me openings with which to deflect with!!!_ **

[9:50 am]_ u could use a talk _

[9:51 am] _ im also very concerned bc my mind subconsciously plays bruno mars even if u arent blasting it _

[9:52 am] _ def get his time of birth after tho _

::

“Wait, so you met his brothers, he let you sleep over as much as you want, and he picked you up from your lectures?” 

Seungyoun is sitting in the middle of one of the more popular cafes close to campus and discussing his love life over a chai tea with Yohan, who’s skipping his engineering lecture to nurse Seungyoun through the leadup to the Very Scary Confrontation with Wooseok. His outfit today is a breath of fresh air, if compared to the array of ratty hoodies and t-shirts he’s been allowing himself to go out in and he silently thanks himself for deciding to wear actual pants again, instead of the Target brand sleep shorts he didn’t take off for at least a week (in his defense, who the hell let Febreze release fabric refreshers on the market anyway, now that’s some next level capitalist enabling). 

Seungyoun takes a sip before nodding, “Yeah, what about it? That’s normal.” Yohan’s eyes widen at this. 

“Are you clinically insane, hyung?” Seungyoun chokes on his latte, “You were dating. Wooseok and you were dating.” 

“No,” Seungyoun shakes his head, “We weren’t.” 

“You spent all your fucking time together.” 

“Uh, that’s because no one ever asks me to hang out. When was the last time I took you out to dinner huh? And— and his bed is really comfortable and the KSA house is closer to campus than you think and obviously he’d have to tell his brothers about me. You think they’d be ok with a completely different car picking them up for pho on the west side?” 

Yohan is aghast at this, his jaw dropping before he hisses, “Pho is a relationship thing.” 

“Pho is NOT—” Seungyoun’s raises his voice far too many octaves than his throat is comfortable with and several patrons turn to stare, Yohan shushes him before repeating that yes, pho is a relationship thing and that never once in Yohan’s life has he ever thought of bringing a fwb to pho for god’s sake. 

“And did you say he walks you to your lectures?” Yohan leans in, “Dude, that’s like Commitment 101.” 

“We are not—,” Seungyoun takes a deep breath, “We were not in a relationship. I can see how you get it confused but we really weren’t, it’s just super comfortable. Like he dapped me up after a blowjob once. And we’re always adding joke songs to our sex playlist to catch each other off. Wooseok _ likes _ forehead kisses so I just _ do it _. It’s easier this way. We just—” 

Yohan stares at him, his gaze unblinking and hard, and his hands shaking around a half-eaten blueberry muffin. Seungyoun stops rambling and shifts in his seat.

“Sometimes, you’re really dumb,” Yohan says slowly, “But that’s ok. Because you can stop being dumb. and get your shit together.” He nods slowly in response before asking for a bite of the muffin. Yohan complies and they sit in silence as Seungyoun chews the dry pastry as quietly as he can. 

“So I should stop?” Seungyoun mumbles, “Being dumb.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Ok.”

“Ok.”

“This muffin sucks.” 

“No, you.”

::

[5:00 pm] _ wooseoks in the finals _

[5:01 pm] _ are u gonna go _

[5:04 pm] ** _uh_ **

[5:05 pm] ** _i thought we were tryna chill w existential crises this week_ **

[5:06 pm] y_ eah but like the finals bro _

[5:08 pm] ** _im pretty sure im the first person in ASU history to ever, and i mean EVER have to drop out because of SADNESS_ **

[5:08 pm] _ and maybe thats ur legacy _

[5:10 pm] _ roll w it _

[5:11 pm] _ make it ur bitch _

[5:12 pm] ** _bruh_ **

[5:13 pm] _ come on, i know ur scared _

[5:14 pm] ** _i know u know im scared_ **

[5:14 pm] ** _how is tht going to fix anything _ **

[5:15 pm] _ bc being scared means u care _

[5:16 pm] _ and thats enough _

[5:17 pm] _ that will make it worth it _

[5:23 pm] ** _sometimes_ **

[5:24 pm] ** _u can be really wise_ **

[5:25 pm] _ im literally just typing out motivational quotes from sohye’s pinterest board rn _

[5:27 pm] ** _r u fucking serious_ **

[5:28 pm] _ no yeah we’ve been pinning shit all afternoon _

[5:30 pm] _ pinterest is kinda fun _

[5:31 pm] _ i made a board for u and wooseok, i’ll send u the link _

[5:32 pm] ** _fuck no _ **

[5:33 pm] _ and that’s on performing ur gender _

[5:34 pm] ** _damn bro ur really gonna do me like that, i took a gender studies class freshman year_ **

[5:35 pm]_ i’m dating a gender studies major _

[5:36 pm]** _ that’s sohyes MINOR so u can suck a dick_ **

[5:37 pm] _ now THATS on performing ur gender _

::

The difference in temperatures between the KSA basement and the first floor immediately cause Seungyoun’s glasses to fog up as he descends the stairs. He wishes he didn’t forget to order another set of contacts which would really pull the whole ‘I’m totally fine and over it, just look at how my muscles haven’t atrophied” frat boy tank top look he’s going for. But he’s pretty sure he just looks like an Asian version of Milo Thatcher from Atlantis, which is a great movie now that he thinks about it and he suddenly wishes he was home so he could watch it instead of making eye contact with Kim Wooseok almost immediately after stepping off the staircase. 

Wooseok is in the middle of the room, surrounded by his brothers, and the smile on his face fades as he registers that Seungyoun is here. Really here. He takes a step towards him, hopeful, but hesitates when Seungyoun turns his back on him. 

“I see the prodigal beer pong contestant has returned,” Jinhyuk swings his arm around his shoulder, “And only in the most public way possible.” Seungyoun smiles tightly. He likes Jinhyuk but seeing him brings back heavy flashbacks of the homecoming afterparty fiasco and his heart inevitably starts beating out of his chest. He can feel his palms getting sweatier when Jinhyuk attempts to move him towards the rest of the Pi brothers. 

“Hyung is _ such _ a Leo, don’t you think?” A savior. A sigh of relief. Eunsang grins cheekily at Jinhyuk as he pulls Seungyoun behind him. He’s met with pitying looks from three of his pledge brothers who form a protective huddle around him. 

“Thank you,” Seungyoun whispers. He’s 85% sure Eunsang doesn’t hear him over the Post Malone song currently gracing their ears but also 100% sure that his frat brother understands his sentiments when he shoots him a tight smile. 

“You need a shot,” Hangyul says, “Or maybe three.” 

“I don’t know if that’s such a good—” Seungyoun begins, trailing off when they all pull out handles of Smirnoff, Malibu, and Bacardi respectively from behind their backs, “Ok shit, I guess this is happening.” 

::

[11:06 pm] _ bro u good? _

[11:07 pm] ** _my ex who’s not my ex is currently taking body shots off of one of the most eligible girls on this campus_ **

[11:08 pm] ** _im fucking peachy_ **

[11:09 pm] _ ah so he’s ur ex now _

[11:10 pm] ** _the jameson convinced me that he was_ **

[11:11 pm]_ the powers of irish whiskey _

[11:12 pm]_ i forget how jealous u get _

[11:12 pm] _ and then i remember that one time u literally _

[11:13 pm] _ set a box of all of ur relationship shit on fire and spread the ashes in the school fountain _

[11:14 pm] _ and seriously fucked the filter system _

[11:15 pm] _ shit looked like the black lagoon for weeks _

[11:16 pm]** _ i thought we agreed never to talk about that_ **

[11:17 pm] _ ok but still legendary _

[11:18 pm] ** _im about to FLIP bro _ **

[11:19 pm] ** _what the FUCK does that kappa bitch thinks she’s doing _ **

[11:20 pm] _ hol up we respect women in this household _

[11:21 pm] ** _what the FUCK does that respectable woman who’s owning her sexuality by LICKING SALT off of my EX’s HOT n TONED torso think she’s doing _ **

[11:22 pm] _ damn ok no more third wheeling on me and sohyes study dates you’ve been reading her course material too often _

[11:22 pm] _ try again tho that wasn’t quite it _

[11:23 pm] ** _what the FUCK does this sad little bitch boy who has no grasp on relationships and is scared to talk about his feelings think he’s doing being jealous of a boy he chose to let go _ **

[11:24 pm] _ better _

[11:25 pm] _ damn bro _

[11:26 pm] _ ik jameson goes hard but i didn’t know it was a goddamn TRUTH SERUM _

[11:27 pm] ** _brb imma take an uber to campus n go drown in the fountain _ **

[11:28 pm] _ stfu and take another shot with me _

::

Seungyoun takes a lot of shots. 

The official game hasn’t started yet, since the itinerary is a little more structured this time around. KSA really decided to go big with this shit, as there hasn’t been a single moment when anyone on the dance floor or at the pong tables has wanted for alcohol. He figures their treasurer made a significant dent in their cashbox (that is, their funds outside of their allocated university budget that they maintain despite the fact that its very existence could have them thrown off campus) in order to pay for all this alcohol. Serious respect for the hustle though. 

There’s something about certain party songs that will never get old and when he finds himself screaming Cascada from the top of his lungs, he relishes in the alcohol-addled bliss his brain is currently functioning under. He’s in the middle of fist pumping when Yohan pushes a lychee ice puff bar into his hands. Seungyoun is no nicotine addict but there’s something about lychee ice that takes the edge off. Also, it just tastes so damn good, like his fucking childhood. Which is honestly a work of marketing genius. 

He wishes he could stop this moment and keep it on repeat for the rest of the semester. Why couldn’t it always be like this? 

Oh right. 

Alcohol poisoning. Responsibilities. The fact that his parents are paying for him to learn how to run a business and not how to run a successful organization wide beer pong tournament. Damn. Why does reality always have to hit at the worst fucking times? 

He yells an excuse in Yohan’s ear who waves him off before turning to dance with some of their Sigma syands who cheer when Yohan starts to aggressively milly rock. He laughs. Good old Yohan. 

His head is spinning when he opens the bathroom door. 

“Someone’s in here—” 

“Oh—”

It’s Wooseok. 

Someone up there has it in for him. And he might find out who it is very very soon if this shit keeps up. 

His heart does an Olympic standard gymnastics floor routine in his chest. The judges in his chest cavity give it top scores, he’s a visionary. He breaks a world record. Simone Biles herself would be proud. 

He hears the boy opposite him take a sharp intake of breath before reaching for his hand and pulling him into the bathroom. 

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t how bathrooms work,” Seungyoun manages. 

“And I’m pretty sure what we did isn’t how relationships work either but here we are,” Wooseok retorts. 

Silence. Seungyoun’s mouth opens and closes multiple times. 

He doesn’t know where to start. Emotional vulnerability has never been his thing. And he’d rather deal with all of this internally. Like with himself. Like away from Wooseok. And inside his room. Under a shit ton of the discounted festive Target blankets Sungjoo bought last year. 

“I— I uh,”he stutters, “I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, that’s just—! That’s just—!” Wooseok exclaims, “Extremely underwhelming.” He takes a few steps back before catching himself before his back hits the sink, leaning against it. Seungyoun contemplates retreating into the shower but decides to just slump down into the very cheap rug on the floor. “Is it bad to wish that you would have something to say? Like even if it was incredibly insulting or completely unfounded, I would’ve taken it.” 

“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk yet.” Wooseok sighs at that. 

“Fuck,” Wooseok rubs the back of his neck, “Ok. Yeah. Ok. I’m not going to force you into doing something you don’t want to do.”  
  


He doesn’t know what else to say but, “Thank you.” 

“We have to talk at some point. You know that right?” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“D—do you want to maybe—”

“Yes?” 

There’s a knock on the door. 

Typical. 

“Doyouwanttomaybetalktonightlikeafteryourgame?” Seungyoun blurts out. 

“Seungyoun,” Wooseok says seriously, “Are you sure you’re up for it? You don’t seem—”

More incessant knocking. 

“HI I DON’T KNOW WHO’S IN THERE BUT MY PEE WILL WAIT FOR NO ONE AND I HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR KSA SO I’M NOT TRYING TO PISS IN THEIR HALLWAY!” 

“Sihoon?” Seungyoun swings the door open. 

Sihoon looks back and forth between him and Wooseok. 

“Actually, on second thought, I’ll just piss outside.”

“We’re actually done, so uh—” Wooseok nods and steps outside. He doesn’t finish his sentence. 

Sihoon looks back at Seungyoun with big eyes, “Tell me I didn’t fuck that up for you.”

“Don’t worry,” Seungyoun shrugs sadly, looking at Wooseok walk back into the basement, “I’m pretty sure I fucked it up all on my own.”

::

[12:32 am] ** _do you know anyone at this party who would do some addy and then make out with me_ **

[12:33 am] ** _or like_ **

[12:34 am] ** _be down to take a road trip to colorado n like lock ourselves in a cabin _ **

[12:34 am] _ bro what do u want _

[12:34 am] _ a lifetime movie or a hallmark one _

[12:35 am] ** _a nice middle ground i guess_ **

[12:35 am] _ so like .. _

[12:36 am]_ a sofia coppola movie? _

[12:36 am] ** _o shit i could go for some serious kirsten dunst as marie antoinette vibes rn _ **

[12:37 am]** _ i want someone to dick me down in 18th century france_ **

[12:37 am] _ on second thought lets go for a disney channel original movie _

[12:37 am] _ game starts soon r u gonna come downstairs to watch _

[12:38 am] ** _UGH but my life is NOT a disney channel original movie _ **

[12:39 am] ** _on god i could really use a cheetah sister rn_ **

[12:39 am] _ are u saying im not cheetah sister material _

[12:39 am] _ bc i can read between the lines cho seungyoun _

[12:40 am] ** _no no no _ **

[12:40 am]_ stick to the stuff u know _

[12:41 am] ** _i’m fresh off a ksa bathroom shakedown so lets take the time to recap_ **

[12:42 am] ** _actually sike its too painful lemme just summarize_ **

[12:42 am] ** _it is EVIDENTLY CLEAR that we_ **

[12:42 am] ** _as in wooseok n me_ **

[12:43 am] _ ok I may be a comp sci major but im not THAT dense _

[12:44 am]** _ are NOT all in this together_ **

[12:45 am] _ sihoon said u do be taking Ls _

[12:47 am] ** _bruh i’m cashed out behind the gatorade cooler, im absolutely smashing the L game rn_ **

[12:47 am] _ EW THE ONE HANGYUL PUKED ON LIKE THIRTY MINUTES AGO _

[12:48 am] ** _see the smell had to be puke or urine _ **

[12:48 am] _ why r u so nonchalant _

[12:49 am] ** _i’m gabriella montezing my way through my problems _ **

[12:49 am]** _ so tell jimin to tell whoever’s on aux to accept my marvin’s room song request i’ve been asking for the past HOUR _ **

[12:47 am] _ thats show biz baby _

::

Seungyoun doesn’t really pay much attention to the game. 

Not because he’s trying to be chill about the whole mixed signal crisis that just occured in the bathroom. No. God, trust him on this one. He couldn’t dream of having the mental strength required to accomplish that feat. He misses the game because he’s too busy emptying out his favorite Thai fusion restaurant lunch special onto the hydrangeas planted out front. Pad see ew definitely does not taste as good coming out the other way. Trust him on that one, at least.

He’s nursing his proverbial wounds on the front porch when he hears a frat chant from inside. Given that the other finalist was the Cantonese club representative, Seungyoun uses his big brain to hazard that Wooseok has taken the tournament. Which also means that his past flame is having a much better night than him. 

Seungyoun is trying to focus on breathing in and out slowly, because he can feel his heart pounding in his chest and his body readying to empty out whatever is left in his stomach. His mind suddenly remembers that the KSA house is a couple blocks down from the shadiest, creepiest iteration of the popular chain convenience store 7/11 he has ever seen. 

The last time he was there, he was just the right amount of tipsy with Sungjoo and craving a family size bag of Hot Fries for his regular size self. He remembers how their sneakers kept sticking to the floor and Sungjoo almost wiping out in front of the Slurpee machine. He starts craving their low rate, like low low rate, taquitos all of a sudden. 

The walk isn’t as cold as he thought it would be. And he manages to rope Sihoon and Hangyul into accompanying him. But he’s pretty sure his persuasion skills are not what got them here, rather his increasingly concerning state of mind and inability to walk in a straight line without someone guiding him is driving their brotherly behavior. He feels bad because they’re definitely supporting more of his own body weight than he is but he knows that if he even tries to run off by himself, they’ll chemically castrate him. 

“You know one of the pledges deadass laughs like a muppet,” Seungyoun thinks out

Hangyul’s eyes widen, “Are you talking about _ Lai Guanlin _?” 

“That overgrown freshman? The one who went to that rich boy Taipei highschool?” Sihoon says. 

“Yeah, yeah. The one that has to duck under our entryway door every night but forgets and hits his head like a dumbass,” Seungyoun continues, “He sounds exactly like that red motherfucker.” 

“BRO,” Hangyul exclaims, “Me and Yohan were JUST talking about that. We want his big to nickname him Elmo. Like come _ on _.”

“That shit is so creepy at like 2am,” Sihoon shivers and Seungyoun notices that all he’s wearing is a new jersey of a basketball team he 100% does not know anything about, “I hear him giggling about the dumbest shit with Seonho. They’re gonna be twins right? Minhyun hyung’s picking them both up?” 

“It’s not quite a giggle,” Seungyoun’s brain decides to fixate on that detail. He’s also kicking a rock around like a soccer ball on the pavement because. Well, because. 

“More of a controlled chuckle?” Hangyul tries. 

“Are you alright in the head? That is not a chuckle,” Sihoon’s facial expression warps into one of total incredulity and Seungyoun can’t help but laugh. 

The debate continues between the two boys and Seungyoun gladly tunes them out. He can see the large neon sign demarcating the 7/11 quite clearly now and he makes a run for the entrance, only nearly tripping over his shoelaces. He briefly hears Sihoon cutting Hangyul’s tirade about the difference between a laugh and a guffaw in an attempt to get the other boy to start chasing him.

Seungyoun only slows to let a couple in close quarters pass through the entrance. He recognizes one of them from the party. 

“So is everyone getting laid today?” he murmurs. The boy jolts away from the girl and looks at him in alarm. He had said it out loud, hadn’t he? Damn. He stutters out an apology which the boy seems to take in stride, muttering something about alcohol tolerance. 

“You’re getting more and more charming by the minute, aren’t you?” Hangyul slings an arm around him once again. Seungyoun mumbles something about respecting your elders and cheese soaked taquitos as he pushes his friend off onto Sihoon. 

If he doesn’t get a taquito in his stomach in the next two minutes, he might actually collapse. 

::

[2:31 am] _ is it untoward of me to request a taquito _

[2:32 am] ** _shdajsdjhkfnef_ **

[2:33 am] _ u piece of shit i know youve sobered up by now _

[2:34 am] _ so bring me a taquito pronto _

[2:34 am]** _ are u guys loitering at the ksa house still?_ **

[2:35 am] _ there’s a bunch of us hiding upstairs, i think the pis made a deal ab pledge sobriety if wooseok won _

[2:37 am] ** _oh junho mentioned that_ **

[2:38 am] _ yeah so theres like 14 or so men who were prohibited from indulging in alcohol for weeks running amok in the basement rn _

[2:39 am]** _ barstool sports nightmare fuel _ **

[2:40 am] _ that would be a good podcast episode name _

[2:41 am] _ not that ive been asking u to consider producing a podcast for two semesters or anything _

[2:42 am] _ working name: pong brothers _

[2:43 am] ** _which is the WORST name ever_ **

[2:44 am] _ brothers in pong? _

[2:45 am]** _ literally the same thing but somehow worse_ **

[2:50 am] ** _what about talk of shame_ **

[2:51 am] _ OOOOOH THATS REALLY GOOD _

[2:51 am]_ u had to think about that one didnt u _

[2:52 am] _ but pretty good considering the damage u did to ur liver tonight _

[2:53 am]** _ boys n i r gonna b on our way back soon, im just going to the bathroom rq_ **

[2:54 am]** _ which is super gross n sketchy pls pray for me _ **

[2:54 am] ** _my new sleep paralysis demon is definitely wooseok confronting me in a bathroom _ **

[2:54 am] _ that is definitely not how sleep paralysis demons work _

[2:55 am]_ but if i had to choose, mine is sungjoo on 3 servings of 5 hour energy like right before a chem lab _

[2:55 am]** _ wouldnt it be funny if wooseok was outside this 7/11 bathroom_ **

[2:55 am] ** _like thats so OP but also a cop out but also exactly how i would expect this to go_ **

[2:56 am] ** _but before we could see each other, he’d get hit by a car_ **

[2:56 am]_ do u want that _

[2:57 am] ** _for wooseok to get hit by a car? uh no_ **

[2:57 am] ** _oooh and then like my mom’s personal assistant would be driving the car _ **

[2:57 am] ** _he’s really working for the competition and also my long lost cousin _ **

[2:58 am] _ like is that what u really want _

[2:58 am] ** _my mom doesnt even have a personal assistant sunho_ **

[2:58 am] ** _just a sad iteration of a bullet journal _ **

[2:58 am] ** _can u not read mr comp sci i said no _ **

[2:59 am]_ is that what u really really want _

[3:00 am] ** _why do u sound like a spice girl rn _ **

[3:00 am] ** _NO I DONT WANT WOOSEOK TO BE RUN OVER BY A CAR_ **

::

He’s looking through his Snapchat stories when someone knocks on the bathroom door. Seungyoun hurriedly washes his hands and cringes when the hand soap topples over and falls on the floor. They knock again. It’s almost tentative, softer, this time. 

“Just a minute!” Seungyoun calls out. 

“Seungyoun.” 

His eyes widen as he opens the door. Wooseok is trying his best to look nonchalant, leaning up against the bagged chip aisle. He takes a step towards Seungyoun but falters when Seungyoun takes a step back into the bathroom door. His face is flushed pinker than usual, probably the lingering effects of alcohol consumption. Seungyoun curses him for pulling it off in the harsh fluorescent lighting. 

“H—hi,” he manages. It’s then when he decides that Sunho is going to die the next morning and that Seungyoun will bury his cold, dead body underneath this very 7/11. 

“Think you’re up for that talk now?” Wooseok says, scratching at the side of his neck. His sweatshirt rides up to show a sliver of skin and Seungyoun’s eyes dart to it immediately. He quickly looks back up at him, meeting the boy’s eyes. Wooseok smirks, it’s more fond than anything. But still. Caught. Fuck. 

“I—” Seungyoun starts, “I have to check on Sihoon and Han—”

“They’re back at the house,” he cuts him off, “I can take you back, too. If you want.” 

Seungyoun’s mind is racing. His train of thought races between Murder Town and Self Destruction Junction and he almost wants to give himself a pat on the back for coming up with such witty names so quickly. There’s a long pause where all Seungyoun can hear is Wooseok shifting his weight from foot to foot and the croaking of the Slurpee machine. 

“Good answer,” Wooseok offers lightly, his face maintaining a slight smile as he turns to the exit, “Let’s go back then.” 

“No!” the cashier looks at them incredulously, “Sorry. Um. We’ll just— we’ll leave.” He ushers Wooseok out of the store, ignoring the boy’s sputtering about this and that. 

They’re outside now. A gust of wind encircles them and reminds Seungyoun exactly how cold it can get when you don’t have whole handles of alcohol coursing through your body. He shivers instinctively and he sees Wooseok’s hands fly to the bottom of his hoodie, as if readying to offer it to him. 

“I’m fine,” Seungyoun shakes his head, “I— I want to talk.” 

Wooseok’s eyes widen, “Yeah— uh. Ok. Ok. Let’s…” his voice trails off as Seungyoun takes a seat on the curb of the walkway leading into the sidewalk. He settles down next to him and Seungyoun starts running through what he’s going to say, what he’s wanted to say for weeks. 

“I’ve been ignoring you. And I’m sorry. A—and,” he begins, voice quiet, “I hate that you’ve been so understanding about it. Because you have every right to be mad at me. And you’re just. Not, I guess. I thought it would be ok if I gave it some time. That things would smooth themselves over. Obviously— uh, I was wrong,” He feels a tear run down his face and Seungyoun immediately angles his head towards the sky before taking a deep breath and beginning again, “I tried— really fucking hard to deny that what we were doing didn’t mean anything because it, in a way, invalidated any feelings I could— well, anyway, when word got out, I panicked and I cried and it was so shitty and I holed myself up because I couldn’t deal with—” Seungyoun doesn’t finish, doesn’t think he can finish.

“I am,” Wooseok begins, “mad, that is. I’m so angry, Seungyounah.” His tone is neutral, almost light and conversational. His expression is even harder to read, “You, god. I didn’t matter to you. My feelings. They didn’t matter to you. I felt shitty too. Because the guy that I thought would be by my side through it all wasn’t there.” 

“O—oh.” Seungyoun can’t help the tears from falling now because he knew he was being stupid. That he had reacted badly to the situation. He’s overwhelmed with the feeling of wanting Wooseok to scream, or cry, to just fucking _ emote _, for god’s sake and he blurts out, “Ok. Punch me, or something.” 

“Shut up,” he recoils, “I’m not going to punch you.” 

“Wooseok. Just—”

“—I am _ not _ going to punch you—”

“—be a fucking man and _ hit me _—”

“—if you would just—”

“—can you—”

“—listen—”

“—no, _ you listen _—”

Seungyoun stops. Wooseok is breathing hard and his hands have found his way to Seungyoun’s shoulders. His fingers are digging into his skin and Seungyoun almost cries out before Wooseok realizes what position they’re in and quickly retreats, his hands folded back onto his lap. 

“I think, what I’m trying to say is that I knew that you were going to be uncomfortable and cut yourself off at some point. And that if the truth came out, everything would go to shit. But a part of me held out,” Wooseok hesitates, “Because I wanted you to see how much I liked you and choose me. I was selfish and I knew you still had it in you to walk away from me. I’m angry that I don’t hate you for it. For leaving me.” 

“You know, in the beginning, I thought it was another ploy, that you had found another way to get on my nerves,” he says wryly, “I’ve never— I don’t do serious relationships. We both know that. I guess, _ hm _, I guess when I started meeting your friends and going out to dinner with you and god, sharing Chegg with your housemates,” he coughs out a laugh, “Anyway, I was terrible. I am terrible. And immature. Shitty. So fucking shitty—”

“You were scared,” Wooseok starts, “I’m scared too, you know.” He’s fidgeting with his hoodie string now. And Seungyoun can tell he’s trying not to make eye contact. 

“We were at each other’s throats for so long. I don’t think you can exactly blame me for that one,” he hears how defensive he sounds and tries again, “Sorry. It’s just—I acted like a child. I’m still acting like a child.” 

“I tried to show you how much I changed. Maybe if I cornered you at parties or walked you to class or held onto you for a little longer in the morning everything would, I don’t know, manifest itself the right way,” Wooseok tilts his head, “Maybe you would stay by my side.” 

Seungyoun looks at him. Really looks at him. Wooseok’s hair is sticking out in the back and his eyes are glassy and his expression carries a certain warmth it didn’t have earlier. 

And it’s then that he realizes. 

“I love you,” Seungyoun gasps as soon as he says it, “I’m sorry. Fuck. I’m so- that was unfair,” he’s tripping over his tongue and he can’t register the words he’s thinking and everything is happening at the speed of light, “Fuck. I’m in love with you. You made me feel vulnerable. Still fucking do. And I hated that. Because loving you felt like guaranteed heartbreak. All this time, I was waiting to be ok with that,” his vision is blurry and he’s only just registering the sobs that are wracking his body, and the hand on the small of his back, “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready. For you to leave. So I left first. But I love you. And I don’t expect anything back.” 

He breathes. It’s like a weight has been lifted off his chest. Seungyoun stands and walks towards the road. He prays for the sound of footsteps. For a hand to hold him back. For someone to call his name. But the world behind him is silent and still. He desperately wipes at his definitely red, definitely unattractive eyes, sniffling as he drags his feet. 

“You fucking idiot,” and suddenly, his body is pressed up against another and hands are grasping at his back and lips are pressed onto his face, “You—absolute fucking—selfish, immature, emotionally stunted _ idiot _.”

“Why _ the fuck _ do you have to be so _ mean _ about it.” Seungyoun pulls away. 

“Shut up,” Wooseok breathes against his lips, “Shut up and kiss me.” 

So. 

_ This _. is love. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK BABY. I'm so sorry for not updating for so long. Last semester was really stressful and my workload tripled in the first month because I made the mistake of enrolling in graduate school and trying to balance it with undergrad, my part-time job, my club shit etc. etc. But I'm ok now! I took winter break to chill out and rewrite this chapter 10 times over. I struggled a lot with how to write their reconciliation because I've gone through similar experiences (sadly, with zero 7/11 parking lot makeup sessions) but that was a long time ago. So I had to revisit my memories and listen to cursed playlists so I could feel the pain again and write this stuff. I thought the ending was rushed at first but honestly, college be like that, at least in my point of view. Feelings and relationships can shift so easily in that kind of environment and I couldn't stretch their interaction further. As much as I wanted to deliver an ending where they talked it out over Americanos in a cafe (which I did try), it didn't feel right. 
> 
> I also dropped off the face of the earth when it came to the disbandment. I hope the boys are doing well and are happy, even though they're separate now. I won't stop writing for this ship since I have a couple more ideas in the bank and they deserve to see the light of day given the amount of time I spend thinking about them and forming alternate plot lines in my head.
> 
> I'm writing the epilogue as I post this and I don't plan on it being any longer than ~5000 words so I'm praying I'll find the strength to get it posted by the end of the week. Let me know if there's anything you'd especially like to see and I will try and work it in if I like the idea!
> 
> Lastly, thank you so much for taking the time to comment and check up on me. I really did appreciate it while I was going through it this semester and my heart hurt everytime someone asked for me to continue or where I was at. Those messages ultimately helped me figure my shit out enough so I could write this and finish it (almost) for you guys. Sending all of you lots of love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out these links below to support the Black Lives Matter movement:
> 
> Things to Read: https://www.distractify.com/p/books-to-educate-yourself-blm  
Resources (general info, donation links, updates): blacklivesmatter.carrd.co  
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It’s midnight and Mr. Brightside is blaring through the speakers in the Lambda house. The complex lighting rig that Yohan managed to reverse engineer has the room spinning, in a mostly good way. Seungyoun has a drink in one hand, a mysterious mix of fruit punch and bottom shelf vodka, and a mic in the other. He pushes it toward Hyeongjun who’s wearing a brand new line jacket with his official pledge name “Crybaby” emblazoned on the back. 

“That’s my MOTHERFUCKING little!” he screams at the top of his lungs as Hyeongjun begins to sing along to the music. The younger boy’s face is very clearly bright red, the LED lights doing nothing to mask his complexion. Whoever thought of hooking up Minhyun’s outdated karaoke machine to their speaker system was a certified genius, or really drunk. Probably both. And it was probably Kookheon. 

It’s about a month before the dawn of finals week which means that almost every Greek org is crossing their new pledge classes and celebrating all their hard work with mixer after mixer. Tonight, they’re mixing with Kappas and surprisingly, Pis. It’s been interesting transitioning into a friendlier and less tense relationship between the two fraternities these past few weeks. Seungyoun is also very aware that the fragile nature of the relationship between the two frats depended on the current status of his and Wooseok’s relationship. So he makes sure that they project the most neutral image possible despite Wooseok’s insistence on doing some borderline illegal things to spice up their activities in the bedroom. 

“Babe, my little can totally outdrink your little,” Wooseok is practically dragging Minhee along whose face greens once he registers that he’s expected to drink even more. 

“Hyung,” Minhee turns Wooseok to face him, “Anything. I’ll do anything but th—” He pauses to gasp for breath. It seems like Wooseok has been dragging him all over the house. Minhee continues to breathe in and out and Wooseok is nodding aggressively with him. Seungyoun registers that his boyfriend has definitely taken more than a couple shots. 

“Oh Minhee, what did I do to deserve such a devoted little bro?” Wooseok jumps to embrace the taller boy. Seungyoun stifles a laugh, his boyfriend’s situational comprehension skills become lower than average once he’s tipsy and this is no different. The sleeve of the fraternity jersey he’s wearing over absolutely nothing, god save Seungyoun, sinks past his bare shoulder and Seungyoun’s eyes dart to the piece of exposed skin automatically. 

He curses Wooseok’s big for being three sizes bigger than him and fixes it by snaking a hand around his boyfriend’s shoulders, “Hyeongjun looks ready to take on a loss, what do you think?” 

Minhee’s eyes comically widen before he sputters, “A-anything but that!” Hyeongjun is shaking his head eagerly beside him. 

Seungyoun laughs as he pulls them apart, “Why don’t we go upstairs? I think Seonho wants to redeem himself from stuttering during probate by beating all of us at rage cage.” 

“But Younah-” He cuts Wooseok off with a kiss to the cheek and he relishes in how quickly he blushes in reaction, “H-hey. I gotta look badass in front of my little. Like hard, like hardcore you know.” 

“You’re already there, hyung,” Minhee makes a show of looking down at Wooseok’s jeans. Hyeongjun lets out a veritable squawk beside them before bursting into laughter with his taller syand.

“I am not!” 

Seungyoun rolls his eyes and tugs on Wooseok’s hand before shielding his boyfriend from the salacious stares of their younger fraternity brothers, “We’re gonna go feel each other up upstairs because we are in a _ very happy _ —” Seungyoun pauses before turning Wooseok around so his ass faces them, “— _ very committed _—” , he quickly squeezes the shorter boy’s cheeks with a smirk, “—relationship.” Wooseok squeaks in response. The younger boys aren’t any better at hiding their own surprise.

“HYUNG NO FAIR! YOU KNOW I’M STILL A VIRGIN!” Hyeongjun bursts out before realizing what he has just screamed on the dance floor. He reddens instantly. And, surprisingly, Minhee does too. 

Seungyoun waves off their requests to continue dancing with them to guide a drunk Wooseok unable to admit that he liked the show of possessiveness his boyfriend just showed on the dance floor. 

“I-I’m just saying, why do you always have to be like that?” Wooseok is about two steps ahead of Seungyoun but he can tell that the boy is pouting. Once they reach the top of the stairs and are cut off by a sweaty string of bodies trying to make it down to the lower level, Seungyoun makes a show of pressing his body up against Wooseok’s. 

“Why?” he whispers against the shell of Wooseok’s ear, “You don’t like it?” To be honest, this past week has been very stressful. Seungyoun has been single handedly carrying two group projects, helping the bros set up for two weeks of mixers, and organizing the end of the year banquet. Between that and Wooseok’s heavy course load and the pageant Pis held every year coming up, they haven’t had time to see each other.

Much less, fuck. 

“Can you behave for once in your life?” Wooseok shakes him off. Ever since they started dating, Seungyoun has all but thrown out subtlety out the window. Wooseok was always attracting new rivals for him anyway, so being a touch more possessive than normal is an unavoidable side effect of being his boyfriend.

“Who’s not behaving?” Yohan peeks his head out from the entryway of the kitchen.

“Yeah who?” Hangyul comes up behind him with a bottle of Patron in his hand, “And do they need a shot?” His gaze lingers to where their waists are pressed up against each other and fakes a gagging motion. Yohan quickly follows suit. 

Seungyoun guides Wooseok towards the pair, muttering a sorry about the idiocy he’s about to witness, “Me, I’m not behaving.” 

Yohan and Hangyul scurry towards him, the smell of alcohol heavy on the two, probably from manning the drinks for most of the night. They mock inspect him in front of a laughing Wooseok and nod at one another indiscriminately. 

“So,” Wooseok reaches for a handle of vodka, “What’s the verdict?” 

“He’s worse behaved than a president up for reelection,” Hangyul says prefunctly. The trio bursts into laughter at this and before Seungyoun can protest, a line of shots are quickly set up in front of him. He groans at the sight of them. 

“Bruh,” Seungyoun groans, “I don’t have the financial capacity to pay for a ride on the wee woo wagon tonight.” 

“Tell that to the stack of packages outside your room,” Yohan stage whispers. 

“Here,” Wooseok pushes half of the glasses to the other side of the table, grinning widely, “Let’s race.” Seungyoun sighs. His boyfriend knows him too well. 

“Ooh! Yes! Loser drinks the rest of the Stoli!” Hangyul holds up a handle that is nowhere near empty.

Hangyul counts them off to start and Seungyoun’s head begins to ache once he pounds the first shot. By his second, his throat begins to close up and he gags. Wooseok appears to be having no trouble though, his hair falling into his eyes as he laughs at Yohan’s drunken attempt at cheering him on. 

“You’re so hot,” he deadpans, completely not giving a shit about the drinks in front of him, “Like actually. So hot.” 

Wooseok stops before downing his last shot to fix him with a look, as if to tell Seungyoun to stop embarrassing him, and finishes it off easily. Their frat brothers jeer at Seungyoun for being a simp, eagerly starting to chant it to taunt him. Seungyoun rolls his eyes and finishes off the shots and promptly accepts the bottle of vodka from Hangyul. 

“Did you think that tactic was gonna work?” the music fades away as Wooseok whispers into his ear. The heat radiating off his boyfriend’s body is electric and Seungyoun’s eyes widen when Wooseok’s hand curls into his nape to pull at his hair, “Because it did.” 

::

Before Seungyoun knows it, Wooseok has him pressed up against the pantry shelving, his hands desperately caressing his back. They grapple for dominance, Wooseok pretending to resist Seungyoun as he soundlessly motions to switch positions. His compliance comes quickly and Seungyoun frantically grabs hold of Wooseok’s wrists and pushes his arms above his head. He whimpers when Seungyoun breaks their kiss to grind against him. The sound is music to Seungyoun’s ears. It’s clear that the past couple weeks have been especially hard for both of them. 

Wooseok is desperate today, fighting against Seungyoun and pushing his tongue into his mouth aggressively. He won’t lie, he likes it when they kiss like this, the panting and gasping and that feeling of it never being enough. It’s embarrassing but his stomach still turns over when he kisses Wooseok. He imagines that they could probably go on like this forever, groaning into each other's mouths and slotting their lips together. He moves his lips down Wooseok’s neck and sucks intermittently. 

“Fuck,” Wooseok gasps when Seungyoun’s teeth sink into his shoulder. Seungyoun laughs against his skin, twisting his hands into Wooseok’s jersey to pull him closer. 

“Take this off,” Seungyoun growls. 

Wooseok slips it off easily, letting it fall to the floor. Seungyoun bends to kiss at Wooseok’s chest, his fingers coming up to tease his nipples to stiffness. Wooseok cries out when he presses his mouth against one, sucking hard. 

“Y-you too,” Wooseok groans, grabbing at the hem of Seungyoun’s top, “Off.” Seungyoun feels a swell of arousal in the pit of his stomach and complies. Wooseok’s gaze is soft, as if he’s in a haze, as he takes in Seungyoun’s bare skin, running his hand up and down the grooves of his abdomen. He pulls at the waistband of Seungyoun’s jeans and trails his hand lower. 

“I refuse—_ ah _,” Seungyoun ducks his head into the crook of Wooseok’s shoulder, “—fuck, Wooseok—to fuck you in a frat house pantry.” Wooseok nudges him off to kneel on the floor, his hand playing with the belt buckle. 

“Who said anything about fucking?” Wooseok says as he ghosts his mouth over Seungyoun’s bulge. His knees buckle from the contact, “Hmm, Youn-ah?” 

“N-nobody. Who—shit, who would say something stupid like that?” Wooseok makes quick work of Seungyoun’s belt and drags down his pants along with his boxers. Seungyoun’s cock springs out, precum beading at the tip. 

“Hello,” Wooseok smiles.

“Babe, I know you’re plastered right now but can you please not say hello to my—ohh fuck” Wooseok takes him in abruptly and starts to suck. 

Seungyoun isn’t sure of a lot of things. The existence of aliens. How much money Eunsang spends on crystals. Whether or not pineapple is good on pizza. But what he does know is that Wooseok has a talent for sucking cock. He has a knack for knowing where to lick and when to tease and how to make him come. And god, he looks so pretty while doing it. 

Soon, one of Wooseok’s hands shift from resting on his hips, moving to play with Seungyoun’s balls. His tongue teasingly licks at the head of his cock before taking it in deeply. Seungyoun chokes out a moan when he feels Wooseok swallow around his cock, his hips involuntarily thrusting upward. Wooseok looks up at him, eyes tearing at the sudden motion. He moans around his cock, letting the vibrations overwhelm Seungyoun completely. 

“C-close.”

“Are you gonna come, Youn-ah?” Wooseok licks up his shaft, “Does my mouth feel that good?”

“Nngh, yes. Y-yes,” Seungyoun pulls at his boyfriend’s hair, relishing in the whimper it garners from him.

Wooseok pulls off without a warning and Seungyoun feels the rising heat die down. Whining, Seungyoun moves closer to him, desperate to feel the wet warmth of his mouth again. 

“Patience,” Wooseok tongues at his slit, sloppily kissing at the sides of Seungyoun’s dick. Seungyoun swallows when he feels that rising heat once again. Wooseok is focused, head bobbing up and down, his cheeks fully hollowed. He moves off to lap up precum with his tongue, making eye contact with Seungyoun when he spreads it over his lips. Wooseok looks a mess, his cheeks are red from the alcohol, lips swollen, and his neck littered with bruises. He’s beautiful like this. 

Wooseok smiles softly when Seungyoun trails his thumb over his pout before sucking it in slowly. 

“So good for me,” Seungyoun whispers. Wooseok nods shyly, his tongue swirling around his thumb once more before wrapping a hand around Seungyoun’s cock. His eyes close before he bends down to suck at the head, moaning at the contact. Seungyoun feels a sharp jolt of pleasure up his spine as Wooseok sucks up and down his cock. 

_ Fuck. _

His cock twitches inside Wooseok’s mouth and Wooseok takes him all the way in. His knees go weak and a shaking warmth spreads across his body. Seungyoun bites his fist to stifle his moans as Wooseok continues to bob his head up and down. His vision goes white when Wooseok moans around his cock and swallows around it once again. 

“C-Coming, I’m—ngh, ah. B-babe, baby,” Seungyoun tries to push Wooseok off. In response, Wooseok keeps his mouth on his cock, drinking him up. Seungyoun rides out the orgasm shakily, his body threatening to slump over if he didn’t lean against the door. His cock throbs as Wooseok pulls off, opening his mouth to show Seungyoun the cum inside before swallowing it all with a blissed out expression. He slowly stands up, with help from Seungyoun, and quickly puts his arms around his neck. Wooseok licks up his fingers before turning to Seungyoun with a smile. 

“You taste—mmph”

Seungyoun roughly presses his lips to Wooseok’s, moaning as their tongues twist around one another. He runs his hands down Wooseok’s back to grab at his ass, earning a whine from him. He can feel Wooseok smile against his lips afterward and the gesture fills him with a strange mixture of lust and happiness. Seungyoun is about to ask him to slip his hand inside Wooseok’s pants when a sharp sound interrupts him and they break the kiss. 

“Uber’s five minutes away,” Wooseok says. 

“Babe, c’mere, I wanna—wait, what Uber?” 

“Neither of us can drive right now so I called an Uber,” Wooseok looks up at him expectantly, “Smart, right? Aren’t I smart?” 

“U-uh yeah,” Seungyoun hurries to pull his jeans back on, “D-Did you order it while you sucked me off?” 

“Kind of?” Wooseok’s eyes twinkle with mischief as he slings his jersey over his shoulder, “Come on, let’s get out of here, I don’t want my rating to drop any lower.” Seungyoun just nods dumbly and takes his hand. 

“Oh and don’t forget the handle! I want us to do weird sex things with it later,” Wooseok yells at him as they reenter the even hotter atmosphere of the party. 

“Wooseok!” Seungyoun reddens as he grabs the bottle that he had set on the ground earlier. 

“Now who’s misbehaving?” Wooseok says over his shoulder. 

They clamber out the house with little fanfare and Seungyoun takes a deep breath once he feels the cool night air. He trails after Wooseok who is eagerly attempting to identify their ride from the number of cars ordered by the groups of students loitering outside. He sneaks a peek at the curve of Wooseok’s back in the moonlight and sighs before catching up to him. 

“This is out of pocket but,” Seungyoun pauses to hold Wooseok a little closer, “I can’t wait to fuck you into the mattress tonight.” 

“How romantic,” Wooseok hums. Seungyoun presses a kiss into a cheek for good measure, “Oh, I think that’s the car.” They cross the road and Wooseok confirms the ride is for them before sliding easily into the back seat. Seungyoun laps around the car to sit up front. 

“Hey, how are you tonight?” Seungyoun decides to be proactive and start off the awkward rideshare small talk as soon as possible, “Wait-”

“Seungyoun?” 

“Seungwoo-hyung?” 

“You guys know each other?” Wooseok looks between them. 

“Y-yeah, he’s my—”

“—uh, briefly—”

“—ride of shame—”

“—kind of, friends?” 

They both laugh at their attempts to explain. Seungyoun eagerly launches into an animated retelling of how shitty his cellular data services are at the KSA house and thank god he has the wifi password now and about how Seungwoo and him are connected on LinkedIn. Seungwoo joins in every now and then to comment on a conversation they’d had or to further explain to Wooseok that Seungyoun is very lucky to have finally bagged Wooseok or to ask if he would like to connect on LinkedIn sometime in the future and maybe they could endorse each other’s skills. Wooseok nods along and intermittently reacts to his story, actively listening like Eunsang told him to do whenever Seungyoun went all Leo Sun on him. 

Wooseok finds out that Seungwoo had actually been the TA for his organic chemistry lab in sophomore year and laments his inability to wrap his head around pKa and yields. Seungwoo mentions that he remembers having to grade a lab where somebody wrote the link to their dog’s instagram account instead of solving the problem set. Wooseok admits to Seungyoun that he does run his Pomeranian’s account, and it’s not his mom who writes the captions. 

Seungyoun tells Wooseok how cute he looks when he blushes. Wooseok fixes him with a look that has Seungyoun squirming in his seat, in a kinda turned on, kinda scared, kinda way. Seungwoo tells them to get a room, for god’s sake, don’t have eye sex in my Mazda. Seungyoun shakes it off and they continue (but he still has sort of eye sex with Wooseok). 

They continue to catch up on school and what they’ve been up to. Seungyoun makes Seungwoo promise to hang out with him outside of the panicked video calls and kakaotalk therapy sessions. Wooseok and Seungyoun fiercely debate the relative coolness of their respective pledge classes and Seungwoo makes the grave mistake of asking what pledging even is which forces Seungyoun to recount everything in his frat-addled brain on the subject. 

“—and yeah, that’s basically it. Oh, we’re here!” Seungyoun notices that the car has stopped in front of the driveway, “Thanks for the ride, hyung!” Wooseok steps out of the car gingerly, needing his boyfriend to steady him after the car ride. 

“So?” Seungwoo asks through the window, “Did you get your life together?” 

Seungyoun looks down at Wooseok who is kissing him lightly on his neck, his arms tightly wound around Seungyoun’s waist. Wooseok murmurs a soft “love you” onto his skin. 

“Yeah,” Seungyoun smiles slowly, “I think- I think I’m doing just fine.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had everything written out here but I accidentally deleted the chapter once I posted it rip. Long story short, spring semester moving online kicked me in the ass and I got sick and gave up on sleep. So I've been taking the last couple weeks to chill and sleep like a normal person again. But this fic has finally been completed! I can't believe that when I first posted and began planning for this pic, X1 was still together and I didn't finish until months after disbandment. 
> 
> I literally had a burst of inspiration to edit and polish off this epilogue in the middle of the night and here we are! Thanks for all of the support and love for this iteration of my favorite boys. To be completely honest, I lurk in the "X1 asian frat fic" search results on twitter every now and then and I'm glad that none of you will have to come back to this fic and see that it's still unfinished. 
> 
> here are some fun facts:
> 
> -Sunho never shows up outside of his texts to Seungyoun! I saw that you guys liked him a lot and felt burdened to make him come off even funnier in the "real life" sections of this fic so I just gave up and never gave him dialogue. 
> 
> -In its first drafts, this fic was way darker and dealt with past emotional trauma from high school and family problems. It was also in Wooseok's point of view! Halfway through, I decided to go for a more lighthearted take and shifted the POV to Seungyoun's, 
> 
> -This is my first time publishing smut in a fic LOL. I used to write under another account for another fandom but got locked out of it YEARS ago. I've always been such an enthusiast for sexy times but never had the balls to give it a try so here's my attempt. I could definitely see myself publishing more works for this universe. I even initially planned for there to be actual sex but it ended so nicely with Seungwoo that I couldn't write more. 
> 
> -I actually based Seungyoun's personality in this fic off of my own. We're both Leos born on August 5th so I extrapolated that similarity to mean that he is also a nervous wreck with a love for attention and serious commitment issues. 
> 
> -here are their pledge names (with explanations!) even though nobody asked:  
p.s. In Asian interest frats, pledge names are a little more serious and are used throughout your Greek experience. Your big picks it out for you and its almost on every single piece of frat merchandise you get from them. Most lines have a tradition or a style they like to follow, but more than that, its based on your personality, your pledging experience, or a mix of both!
> 
> -Seungyoun, Chateau (born out of a compromise, Sungjoo's line names all start with C- and initially wanted to name Youn Chatterbox but got called out because it was too much of an obvious roast, so this combines his love for the finer things with him talking a lot)  
-Wooseok, KIRBY (oooh all caps, this is a stylistic option frat boys sometimes go with and a nod to me seeing lines go for a tradition of naming bros after who they main on smash bros, also Kirby is cute and fits Wooseok so yes)  
-Sunho, Gigabyte (combo of him being a huge compsci nerd and also being a sarcastic ass, its like byte but also bite like their bark is worse than their bite ok anyway)  
-Yohan, Chagiya (this is a very bad attempt at a Korean pun that combines the word for kick with a common pet name because in this universe, he still did tae kwon do and he's still an adorable baby)  
-Hangyul, Wakatoshi (his big was a weeb and naming him after a Haikyu character forced him to watch the series so now he's a weeb too)  
-Eunsang, equinoX (idk why this is popular with greeks but having a capitalized X somewhere in the pledge name gets em going so this is a nod to that and also a nod to Eunsang's love for astrology)  
-Hyeongjun, Crybaby (self explanatory, C name non negotiable)  
-Minhee, WFT (this is me trying to emanate those jokey, funnier pledge names, my idea for this is that Minhee isn't very into Smash and didn't know how to play so he just randomized his character when he first played with Wooseok and it was Wii Fit Trainer rip)  
-Sungjoo, Cascada (bc he screams Everytime We Touch at the top of his lungs in the shower and on the dance floor) 
> 
> If you have any questions about terminology/wanna know more random facts, ask away! I shied away from vocabulary lists at the end of chapters because I felt like it would ruin the mysterious vibe but I do seem to be confusing some people so I'm here to answer! I'll also take writing suggestions if you guys have anything you'd like to see from me. I don't imagine I'll stray too far from this writing style/vibe anytime in the future but I do have a good angst track record. 
> 
> Thank you so so much again for all the love! 
> 
> (also I'm still on twitter, just lurking tho @fivecsy)


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